Prime Minister Stephen Harper, shown with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, June 4, 2010.LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP / Getty Images
On the eve of the G8 meeting that Canada hoped would be known as the "accountability summit," a new report shows this year's host slipped to third place in compliance with commitments. It is not a good harbinger for Huntsville, 2010.
The compliance scorecard, issued by the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto, shows Canada scoring below the U.K. and Japan, based on allocation of resources and creation of new programs to fulfill promises made at the G8 meeting in L'Aquila, Italy in 2009.
Canada received poor marks for its efforts to support the peace process in Africa, improve access to water and sanitation, and support initiatives to strengthen the democratic process and modernize public services.
It did well, however, in its commitments to tackle economic and security issues, and provide overseas development assistance to Africa, make aid effective and reduce child mortality.
A third-place finish undermines the seriousness of Canada's bid to show leadership in holding summiteers accountable - an issue that has long undermined the credibility of the G8 itself.
G8 members are not successful even on their own terms. Many of the commitment statements at the end of G8 summits are vague, seemingly crafted to guarantee success. Even so, the scorecard that monitors the summits concluded that overall compliance of the members - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, U.K., U.S., and the European Union - is 0.53 (with 1 being full compliance). In 2008, it was 0.48. Canada was above average, while Italy and Russia were laggards. Most countries failed to increase development assistance or remove protectionist trade measures.
Led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the G8 is introducing its own accountability mechanism this year, and will unveil a scorecard on past effectiveness in delivering development aid.
Canada must aim to unseat the U.K. as the country that is best at keeping its promises. This would lend credence to Mr. Harper's proclaimed new era of transparency and accountability. Bev Oda, the Minister of International Co-operation, says Canada has met all of its G8 commitments, noting Ottawa has doubled aid to Africa, at $2.1-billion a year, and is on track to double its international assistance to $5-billion a year by March, 2011. However, she failed to note that this will not increase Canada's overseas development assistance as a share of gross national income to more than the 0.3 per cent achieved in 2008. Nor has she explained how Mr. Harper will launch new maternal and child health initiatives without new investments. If the G8 and G20 want to remain relevant, their declarations must be more than empty words.