G-8 activists are using the last few weeks before the Kananaskis summit to educate Albertans about globalization and encourage participation in local organizations committed to international economic justice.
"We want people to come out with a much stronger understanding of how the G-8 relates to what's going on in Canada," said Pam Foster, co-ordinator of the Halifax Initiative, a coalition of non-governmental organizations for international economic reform.
Foster was in town Saturday speaking to about 80 people at the Calgary stop of Talking G-8: The Travelling Road Show. The event took place at the University of Calgary Rozsa Centre.
She wants to help Albertans understand the significance of the G-8, and to stimulate local interest in alternatives to an international economic system she said has negative effects in our province.
"The biggest shock is seeing how badly people are hurting in Alberta and hearing their stories," Foster said.
She also wants to raise awareness of what she calls the anti-democratic nature of the G-8 process.
"There's no record of what the discussions are about," she said, adding that important topics such as the Kyoto Accord are generally glossed over for the public with one or two sentences in an official G-8 communiqué.
Local activist Sarah Kerr also addressed the group and offered a message to G-8 summit organizers.
"When you have your meeting we're going to shine a big spotlight on it," she said.
Kerr wants to make G-8 governments more accountable to people around the globe and turn a critical eye onto unrestrained international market economics.
"The world is different and the same things don't work in every place," she said. "We need bottom-up budget planning. People know what's most necessary in their own neighbourhoods."
Kerr said economic problems should be solved by those who are directly impacted, because it's they who have the most at stake in long-term solutions.
"I want to demonstrate that the free market is not always the most efficient way to organize our economy," said Jim Stanford, an economist for Canadian Auto Workers.
"The market is based on the idea that everyone pursuing self-interest will make everyone better off," he said, "but there's lots of cases where uncontrolled self-interest actually reduces the well-being of everyone."
Stanford used the example of a threat of recession to illustrate his point. If people fear an economic downturn, they will often take their money out of investments to keep it safe, he said. If enough people react this way, it will create a recession even if none would have occurred otherwise.
Government control is a solution to these types of problems, Stanford said.
The only solution is for "powerful non-market forces to swim against the tide when needed," he said.
G-8 activists were also at work Saturday planning a Community Solidarity March for Sunday, June 23.
"We're trying to tie global decisions to local issues," said Gordon Christie, the executive secretary of the Calgary and District Labour Council.
Christie said the plans are going well. A route for the "peaceful, family-oriented march" has been selected, and the application for a permit is underway.
He anticipates 4,000 to 5,000 people will take part.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.