Expand The G8

In a June the 6^th letter to the Globe and Mail titled “Global leadership is about sharing power”, former Prime-Minister Paul Martin argued that an enlargement of the G8 had become necessary to “make globalization work in a world where the major actors, and the economic, social and religious contexts in which they operate, have created an interdependent but increasingly dysfunctional system”. And with the latest G8 summit is Germany having passed just a few weeks ago with nothing to show but a few minor agreements and travel expenses, the reality that Mr. Martin's letter expressed couldn’t be any more apparent.

The main reason for which an enlargement is due is simple: the G8 is no longer the G8. What used to be a meeting of the eight leading industrialised countries in world has become a meeting of eight industrialised countries wanting to feel on top of the world. The group is no longer sufficiently representative and economically powerful to act as a strong and significant voice, a voice, Mr. Martin adds, "that can provide a consensus the rest of the world can either accept or reject, but one that at least provides a strong sense of direction."

But this isn't just an international matter concerning the poorer countries of the globe; it is also of the highest relevance to Canada's national interests. If the G8 does accept new members to better reflect the new world reality, it could force emerging powerhouses such as China and India to form their own competing group –which they have already started doing-, that would easily trump the G8 demographic and economic power and end up forcing the noble institution to break up. The US, Russia and Japan would then probably be invited into the new club, leaving the other ex-G8 members, including Canada, to bite their tongues in frustration. And as Mr. Martin pointed out: “Smaller countries such as Canada may well find themselves shut out from having a reasonable say in world affairs and larger countries like the United States will find themselves in a perennial balancing act comparable to that which occurred after the defeat of Napoleon, the stresses and strains of which bedevilled Europe for 100 years.”