Canadian NGOs formed the Halifax Initiative in December 1994 to ensure that demands for fundamental reform of the international financial institutions (IFIs), namely the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, were high on the agenda of the Group of Seven’s (G7) Halifax Summit. We are a coalition of development, environment, faith-based, human rights and labour groups, and the Canadian presence for public interest work and education on the IFIs … (about).
Homepage;
Issues; Resources; Publications; FAQs; Links;
Address: Halifax Initiative Coalition, 153 rue Chapel Street, Suite 104, Ottawa, ON K1N 1H5, CANADA;
Contact.
Institutions: The Canadian government is a key actor in the international finance scene. It is one of very few governments to be represented on:
- The Group of Eight (G8) and Group of 20 (G20), where the leaders of these countries discuss key global development and finance issues, and at international bodies such as the United Nations, where they discuss issues related to human rights and financing for development;
- The Paris Club of creditor nations, where discussions relating to bi-lateral debt take place;
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where discussion on overseas development assistance (ODA or aid) take place, matters related to export credit agencies and corporate accountability. ECAs support a number of questionable projects;
- All the Boards of the World Bank Group (WBG) as an Executive Director, where international development issues are discussed and coordinated;
- The Board for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which reviews countries’ economic policies and lends money to developing countries facing financial or debt crises. IMF support is conditioned on countries implementing a large number of policies to « structurally adjust » its economy;
- All the Board of Governors of the Regional Development Banks (Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) directly, or Regional Development Banks (RDBs).
Canada is a key player among these institutions and, when pushed, can play an important role in advocating for greater transparency and accountability through their institutional reform..