On The World Stage

Canada a stooge of the United States? An avidly dedicated follower, highly dependent for its economic, political and social well-being on the good auspices of their neighbour? To the first a hearty guffaw (and a bit of equivocation due to trade realities), to the second a hesitant but needful assent; in some measure; uncertain for the first index, a modest dissent for the following two.

Addressing the World Economic forum at Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Harper admonished that during summits in Canada of the G8 and G20 leaders "the discussion should be less about new agreements than accountability for existing ones." Resisting the badly battered U.S. administration's healing nostrums for its financial ills.

And hearking back to an earlier, inadequately addressed and woefully unfulfilled agenda item, Mr.Harper warned that Canada will be focusing the upcoming G8 meeting it will be hosting on maternal and child health in developing countries, stressing the grim reality that 9-million children die before they reach the age of five.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, tasked with co-chairing aid for Haiti with his Republican successor had high words of praise for Canada's Haiti-earthquake relief efforts. "It has been unbelievable. I'll bet you on a per-capita basis, they're No.1 in the world now in helping Haiti." (I'll bet he's right.)

"Probably because of the prime minister's matching grant program but, for whatever reason, the Canadians have all given money and all want to support it. You should be very proud of that. I'm very grateful", he said. "It's super that you've got that out there early so everybody's thinking about it", Bill Gates contratulated Stephen Harper.

Given Mr. Gates's monumental investments through his charitable foundation in world health, with a focus on helping children in Third World countries live into and beyond infancy, this represents recognition from a dedicated sponsor of world good. International acclaim and national disinterest.

(For although Canadians, appreciative of their prime minister's swift decision-making and action on the Haiti file, and they do take pride in the alacrity and generosity of the response, they give no credit to government in terms of popular political support.)

And in the wake of U.S. President Obama's unveiling of new rules for U.S. banks in an obvious partisan-political attempt to redeem himself in the re-election prospects of the vast American public which had voted in a new era only to find itself mired in the old one, international markets reacted negatively. With fears that banks' reactions might halt recession-recovery.

As the sole G-8 nation whose banks hadn't faltered during the massive global recession, and from the perspective of a country whom that recession touched with relatively minimal misfortune without maiming early prospects for recovery Mr. Harper took exception to the quaint notion that the G-20 - which had earlier pledged conformity in reforming the global financial system - would or should follow suit.

"Through the Group of 20, we will be encouraging strengthened financial sector regulation, and improved co-ordination between regulars. But Canada will not go down the path of excessive, arbitrary or punitive regulation of its financial sector", he cautioned. Adding aptly that "the consequences could actually be worse than before the crisis", without a global approach.

So then, might the American administration be prepared to think again about how these now proposals will affect the larger financial, global community? It was, after all, U.S. financial institutions and their ill-advised, worthless monetary papers with insubstantial credit back-up and dubious-to-absent assets that produced those dread repercussions around the world.

It makes no sense that an administration that reacted with giant stimulus programs - to benefit the wealthy, the industrialists, the financiers who then turned around and pampered themselves excessively while managing somehow to post huge surpluses - suddenly discovered the white-hot anger of the unemployed, the homeless and the socially-politically disaffected.

Back to the drawing board to address a real need to achieve a global consensus on financial regulations, but one geared to address a global issue, not a national political stale-mate. Perhaps a closer look at Canada's example, one enthusiastically endorsed and admired a year earlier, when Canada remained afloat while her partners began to sink under huge, destabilizing debt issues.

Canada, trumpeted Mr.Harper, has a "well-regulated, free-market economy with a private financial sector of enormous strength", whose banks rarely signed on to the irregular high-risk mortgage loans that U.S. lenders did, heedlessly sending worthless paper that no one could quite understand, onto the international market.

"We intend to build on that advantage. We intend to see the financial sector in Canada grow." Imagine, luring international finance to Canada's securely conservative system, edging away from the laissez-faire American tradition that failed government oversight.