A luncheon was held last April in Dakar, Senegal, to mark Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's last stop in a six-nation tour of Africa.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade sat across the table from Mr. Chrétien and listened intently as the prime minister made a string of promises for African development. He promised the world's richest nations would open the doors for Africa to join the developed world. He promised that G8 leaders at this month's summit in Kananaskis, Alta., would be open to Africa's proposals. He promised the 21st century would belong to Africa.
"Mr. Prime Minister," Mr. Wade said back across the table, "the eyes of millions of Africans will be on you at the G8 and Kananaskis."
But Mr. Chrétien's ability to deliver on the promises millions of Africans are hoping will come out of the summit of G8 leaders next month at Kananaskis was thrown into serious question Sunday when he axed finance minister Paul Martin from his cabinet.
"The losses will be devastating," said John Kirton, head of the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto. "The average Canadian won't see the devastation because it will be a matter of lost opportunities. But really it's going to be all of those poor people in Africa who will continue to be poor for longer than they should have been."
The plan is that when G8 leaders sit down for two days of talks June 26-27, much of the summit's groundwork will already have been laid out at the various ministerial meetings taking place in the weeks leading up to the summit. Until yesterday, Paul Martin was to chair a crucial ministerial meeting of G7 finance ministers (Russia has not yet been invited to join the finance group) scheduled for Halifax June 14-15. In the wake of Mr. Manley's sacking, John Manley, Canada's new minister of finance, will chair the meetings.
"The timing couldn't be more unfortunate," said Dr. Kirton, who spoke from Japan, where he is meeting with the Japanese Ministry of Finance in the lead-up to the summit. "Canada needs everything to work right to pull off what it had designed as one of the most ambitious summits in history."
Dr. Kirton stresses the importance of rapport with other finance ministers in such a meeting. As the longest-serving G7 finance minister, Mr. Martin knew the ins and outs of all the G7 ministers. "Paul doesn't like Canada losing, so he talks (British Chancellor of the Exchequer) Gordon Brown into getting what Canada wants and needs. You really need a person who has that kind of relationship."
According to Jennifer Sloan, Mr. Manley's director of communications, Mr. Manley has never met Gordon Brown and he first met U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill over the phone yesterday morning.
"I think it's going to be very hard for (the other G7 finance ministers) to see that Canada is in the driver's seat ... when this government is reeling and lurching from crisis to crisis," said NDP leader Alexa McDonough.
While civil servants in the Ministry of Finance will stay in key positions behind the scenes, the minister's post remains essential in negotiations such as the upcoming ministerial meeting. "It's not just a matter of good Canadian civil servants being able to bring things into being and handing a script in 'Yes, Minister' fashion," said Dr. Kirton.
Except for a few brief words yesterday with David Dodge, governor of the Bank of Canada, Mr. Manley has yet to meet with top ministry civil servants.
The office of the finance minister is asking for time. "You're going to have to give the Deputy Prime Minister just a little more time to asses what his personal priorities are," said Ms. Sloan. But with the meeting of G7 finance ministers less than two weeks away, it seems Mr. Manley doesn't have much time to ask for.
"Instead of striding with confidence into that G8 summit in Kananaskis, we're limping," Tory leader Joe Clark said Sunday. "I remind you that it is an economic summit and traditionally ... it is the minister of finance who has to carry the burden of responsibility, whether you are a guest at the summit or whether you are the host of a summit."
"It's not just a matter of a quick study of the briefing books," said Dr. Kirton. "Kananaskis could really have turned the tide from a half-century of failure to bring democracy and development to Africa. And I think that process is going to come more slowly because we're losing one of the two key people needed to pull it off."
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