Canada was centre stage internationally as the Harper government hosted the G8 and G20 summits June 25 to 27, 2010. On one side – and behind steel fences and barricades – were the leaders of the world’s economic powers. On the other was everyone who hadn’t been invited, but who believe that a small group of countries with political and economic power don’t have the right to make decisions that affect everyone in the world. The decisions made behind closed doors by political leaders attending the G8 and the G20 meetings will have wide-ranging impacts on more than six billion people.

The summits, which took place in Huntsville and Toronto, Ontario, came with a huge price tag. Costs for both the G8 and the G20 summits have soared to more than $1 billion. Over the three days of planned meetings, this meant about $75 million was spent every hour on security and logistics – money that is desperately needed for the high priority agenda items such as maternal health, access to clean water and sanitation, and urgent action on climate change.

Your voice is needed now to tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the place for national leaders to meet is in the General Assembly at the United Nations. That's what the United Nations was created for, and it has the buildings, infrastructure and appropriate security in place for gatherings of world leaders. We are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to support global water, trade and climate justice and push to end the G8 and G20 summits.

Click here to read more about the G8 and G20 Summits.

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Prime Minister Harper, I am outraged the federal government spent more than $1 billion on the G8 and G20 summits in Huntsville and Toronto, Ontario June 25-27, 2010. Given the overall costs, and the 16 hours of formal and informal meetings that were held, the bill comes in at about $75 million per hour for these summits. One billion dollars could be better spent on any number of urgent international priorities such as providing access to clean drinking water worldwide and immediate action to address climate change. To put this in perspective, a child dies every 8 seconds from drinking dirty water. During the G8/G20 weekend, 21,600 children died because they were denied the fundamental human right to clean water. The billion dollars being spent on the summits could have saved those children and millions more. The place for national leaders to meet isn’t behind barbed wire fences in small groups of eight or twenty, but rather in the General Assembly at the United Nations. That’s what the United Nations was created for, and it has the buildings, infrastructure and appropriate security in place for gatherings of world leaders. These G192 meetings should also include a true dialogue with broader civil society. The narrower corporate interests should not have the kind of exclusive privileged access that they now enjoy. Prime Minister Harper, I demand that you support global water, trade and climate justice and push to end the undemocratic, unwieldy and unproductive G8 and G20 summits. I await your reply. Sincerely,
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