Frequently Asked Questions

What is the G8 and G20 Summit?

The G8 and G20 Summits are meetings of the heads of states, financial ministers and bankers of the richest countries in the world. The IMF and World Bank and other institutions are also present.

The G20 consists of finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America.  The 20th member is the European Union, represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank.

In addition, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings.

History and Processes of the G8 & G20

Since 1997 when Russia joined the G7, the G8 Summit has been a meeting to discuss how to manage the global economy, by focusing on international trade and relations between the richest and poorest countries. Questions of East-West North-South economic relations, energy, and terrorism have also been recurrent concerns. Over time, agendas of these summits have broadened considerably to include issues such as unemployment, the information highway, the environment, crime and drug trafficking, and a host of political-security issues ranging from human rights through regional security to arms control. Although decisions made at these summits do not have an administrative infrastructure, they have a strong influence on policies at the national and international level.

The responsibility of host rotates throughout the summit cycle at the end of the calendar year, as follows: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia (as of 2006), Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada. Throughout the year, the leaders' personal representatives – known as sherpas – meet regularly to discuss the agenda and monitor progress.  The G8 consists of France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia (as of 2006), Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada.

Due to the changing nature of the global economy, the Group of Twenty (G-20) was established in 1999 and is made up of  Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of 19 countries and the rotating Council presidency of the European Union and the European Central bank.  This group was established to deal with emerging concerns about the global economy in the 1990s.  The first meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 15-16, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.

At the Pittsburgh G20 summit in 2009, the G20 announced that it would replace the G8 as the main grouping for managing the global economy. This transition took place partly because of the growing strength of some of these economies, but also because of perceptions that without integrating these economies, the legitimacy and dominance of the G8 was in crisis.  The G20 thus brings together important industrial and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world. Together, member countries represent around 90 per cent of global gross national product, 80 per cent of world trade (including EU intra-trade) as well as two-thirds of the world's population. The G-20's economic weight and broad membership gives it a higher degree of legitimacy than the G8, and a broader approach to managing the global economy and financial system.  However, the ideological framework of the G20 remains the same as the G8, pushing for neoliberal policies (free-market capitalism and unrestrained deregulation). 

What is neoliberalism?

Neoliberalism is an ideology that guides many of the decisions of the G8 and G20 countries. It became the dominant approach to organizing the economy in the 1980s, and argues that by allowing capital to move globally, a wealthier and more productive society will emerge. However, neoliberal policies lead to increased corporate control, and to increased levels of inequality between the rich and the poor - both locally and internationally. Neoliberalism believes that government programmes and protections should be reduced in order to increase economic growth.  However, with the globalization of the economy, this growth benefits fewer and fewer multinational corporations. Neoliberal policies include cuts to social services and support, a reduction of tariffs and the privatization of the public sector - including health care, education, social services and environmental protection.

Who is the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN)?

We are a network of communities, community organizations, NGOs, artists, labour unions, and concerned individuals from Toronto and global allies that have come together to organize events and actions leading up to and during the G8/G20 Summits.  We aim  to  build relationships  between  anti‐capitalist, Indigenous sovereignty,  anti‐poverty,  labour,  migrant  justice,  environmental  justice,  anti‐war,  and  anti‐colonial activists  and  organizations  who  are  creating  the just worlds we  want  ‐  each  with  our  own  unique  history,  present  needs, and sustainable demands.

The Community Mobilization Network is facilitating events and actions demanding self‐determination for indigenous peoples, environmental and climate justice, income security and community control over resources, gender justice, disAbility rights, migrant justice and an end to war and occupation.

How Do I get I involved with the network?

You can get involved in numerous ways:

• sign up for our listserv on our homepage or here and join the facebook group
• promote the network and get others to sign up
• attend one of the monthly Network Meetings to find out more about the network and get updates
• join an organizing committee - Logistics, Media and Communications, Fundraising, Education and Outreach, Art (meeting details are shared over the Network mailing list or email community.mobilize@resist.ca for more info)
• join a volunteer team - doing education, attending and organizing events, fundraising, "scavenging" items for logistical needs,  and other teams are added as needs develop (details shared at the Network Meetings or email community.mobilize@resist.ca for more info)

Why resist the G8 and G20 Summits?

Different organizations and individuals have different reasons for protesting the G8 & G20 meetings.

The TCMN maintains that given the colonial, imperial nature of international politics and the disastrous legacy of "free"-markets, the G8 and G20 "leaders" have no legitimacy to manage the global economy and financial system, nor do they represent the best interests of most people or the environment.  Yet the decisions the G8 and G20 governments make every day impact people, communities and the planet.  The meetings also include participation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and other neoliberal institutions that have forced countries of the Global South into debt crises and overwhelming poverty. The G8 and G20 meetings attempt to fix capitalsim by cutting social spending and by pushing privatization in the global financial system, furthering the systems of oppression that have led to poverty, environmental destruction and other social injustices.  

Communities from across Turtle Island are resisting the G8 and the G20 because the Canadian (Federal, Provincial and Municipal) governments are using the summit to market Canada as a prosperous and stable place for business investments.  This while our communities continue to struggle with poverty, violent police repression, cuts to social services, environmental destruction, closed school and increasing marginalization.

What alternatives is the Network proposing?

Different groups within the network have different visions for the world they want. But overall, we want economic systems that allow people and the planet to flourish in all its diversity, political systems that allow communities to make the decisions that affect their lives. We want educational systems that sustain and nourish critical and creative engagement with the world, and social systems that support us ALL, especially at our most vulnerable moments.

Is the TCMN a part of the anti-globalization movement?

If the anti-globalization movement is a movement that is about justice for ordinary people and the planet, then yes, the TCMN is part of the anti-globalization movement. If the anti-globalization movement is a movement that rejects the approach of economic institutions and unrepresentative governments on people's lives - then yes, the TCMN is part of the anti-globalization or global justice movement.

The TCMN acknowledges that the modern world is globally integrated and that the dominant systems and institutions in the world are pushing for further integration of policies, based on free-market economic principles that privilege private industry above people and the planet. At the same time, these systems and institutions limit human freedoms, exploiting and damaging communities and the natural world.

The TCMN wants an alter-globalization movement, one that demands justice and remedies the systemic problems with the current global system.