The G20 “shrinking agenda”: how the Canadian host gutted the G20 of substance

Unfortunately, the Toronto G20 met our expectations – which were very low! On the Monday before-hand, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told the ITUC Congress in Vancouver that the summit had a “shrinking agenda”. Before that, on Friday 18 June, I participated on behalf of Global Union Federations in a consultation with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, host for the G8 and G20 “twin summits”. Although Global Unions made points on defence of the public sector in the face of “exit strategies”, we had few illusions about Mr Harper’s interest – or lack thereof – in education.

When you read the brief Leaders’ Declaration, you have to wonder how the Canadian government justified the expense to Canadian taxpayers. The cost was widely reported in local media as running up to $1.3 billion, with security costs 8 times those of the previous G20 in Pittsburgh. $1.3 billion would go a way towards closing the financing gap for Education for All! But EFA is not mentioned in the G20 Declaration. Instead it is referenced in an annex to the G8 Declaration on accountability for MDG commitments. The G20 Declaration gives a one-line mention in another annex to “appreciation” for the work of ILO and OECD on a training strategy (http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1292&theme=ei&country=canada).

It was not for want of trying. EI affiliates in Canada, the CTF and FPUQ, wrote excellent letters to their Prime Minister, while CTF held a well-attended press conference, and achieved good media coverage, especially e-media. The Presidents of US affiliates NEA and AFT wrote a formidably well-argued joint letter to President Obama, backed up by a personal note from the AFL-CIO President to the US “Sherpa” (top official) for the summits. EI key messages were included in the Global Unions’ Statement to the G8 and G20. And EI participated on behalf of Global Unions in the consultation with the host Prime Minister.

That consultation was itself indicative of the approach of the host government. Flanked by two of his Ministers, for Labour and Human Resources and Skills, as well as his “Sherpa”, Stephen Harper said he would just “listen” to the trade union presentations. Thanks to well-framed questions put to him by ITUC’s Guy Ryder, Harper was drawn into a more interactive exchange with the delegation than he probably intended. He was articulate and politically astute. Neither of the Ministers said a word. While we felt that getting Harper to engage in the exchange was a small “plus”, at the end of the day it did not change much. It was to be contrasted with the convening, on the eve of the G8, of a B-20 summit of business leaders, at the invitation of the Canadian PM, and a commitment by the G8 to finance with public funds worthwhile business initiatives!

Nevertheless, as labour leaders we were clearly the object of a charm offensive by this right-wing politician. Harper has run a minority government for 4 years. In the Toronto Star the next morning I read an article on his strategy to outflank the left by supporting expansion of the publicly-run Canada Pension Plan. The article quotes CLC chief Ken Georgetti as lavishing praise on the decision, stating that the Conservatives have “felt the heartbeat of Canada on this one”. (Toronto Star, Sat June 19, 2010).

This all seemed to be consistent with what I observed in the consultation. An astute politician moves from his core base, in order to build support in the centre and create conditions for governing with a majority rather than a minority. The Toronto Star columnist notes, however, that ‘Harper’s strategy with popular social programs is not to eliminate them but to transform them over time into forms that he and his political base find more ideologically amenable’.

Harper proposed a photo with all of us in front of the G20 flags, with Ken beside him. It was rather obvious that we served mainly as a backdrop for the playing out of some domestic Canadian politics. Meanwhile, I thought of all our members, in the G20 countries and in 160 other countries, and the millions of children in those countries, who face education budget cuts and see the prospect of achieving Education for All recede over the horizon!

We knew that for the Canadian G8 and G20 summits, our task was to put down “markers”. This we did. The strong EI delegation at the ITUC Congress in Vancouver, backed by the many EI and PSI delegates in national delegations, succeeded in getting the ITUC to adopt a 7th priority on Defence of the Public Sector and Education and Health for All.

Our work to get EFA and Teachers on the G20 agenda must continue through the upcoming UN Summits and the G20 in Seoul, Korea, in November. By the time the G20 convenes again in France in June 2011, just before the EI World Congress in July, we want to see concrete proposals in place. Ambitious, hugely ambitious. But necessary!