MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2000

(TORONTO) Members of The Council of Canadians and other organizations are boarding buses in Toronto tomorrow to join thousands in Washington, D.C., who are holding teach-ins and protests against the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The IMF and the World Bank are meeting in Washington, April 11-17.

Canadians have several reasons to be concerned with the current policies of the IMF and the World Bank, which along with the World Trade Organization (the target of similar protests in Seattle last year) form a kind of triumvirate among international economic institutions, affecting the policies of both developed and developing countries.

Most developing countries which have had to apply to the IMF/World Bank for loans have only received them on condition that they implement severe structural adjustment programs (SAPs), forcing indebted nations to adopt a wide range of "free market" policies, including cuts in social programs and the privatization of public services.

Canada and other developed nations, too, have felt the pressure of IMF/World Bank reports. Last fall, the IMF told Finance Minister Paul Martin to give priority to tax cuts in his 2000 Budget and only "moderate" increases to health care and education, prompting some critics to ask "Is it still democracy when the IMF calls the shots?"

"There has been very strong pressure on Canada and other countries for many years to follow IMF prescriptions," said Maude Barlow, Volunteer Chairperson of The Council of Canadians. "The result has been a growing poverty gap in Canada and around the world."

"Now, the IMF and the World Bank are even attempting to muscle Third World countries into addressing a growing global water crisis through water privatization and 'full-cost pricing' of water services. We're standing with others from around the world in saying the system must change," said Barlow, who is scheduled to speak in Washington this evening at a teach-in on the IMF and the World Bank sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization.