Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday that he will advocate increased scrutiny of global financial markets, and not an overhaul of regulations, at the upcoming G20 financial summit in Washington.
Harper said he does not think the world's major economies will agree to an overhaul of regulations governing financial markets, but he says they should be open to increased scrutiny.
He said Canada will seek middle ground concerning the regulations of the financial markets and rejects both of the existing views.
"Canada will be seeking consensus on a communique that focuses on the world's macro economic fundamentals to restore growth, recognizes that good regulation begins at home, and supports mechanisms for peer review that are transparent and accountable," Harper told reporters in the western city of Winnipeg.
Harper said some leaders believe they should "strictly keep their own house in order," while others are seeking "wide-ranging global governance of financial markets."
"I believe the government of Canada is in neither of these camps," he said. "We actually believe that neither of these positions are feasible or realistic."
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who will also attend the meeting, has argued that some minimum level of global regulation needs to be introduced.
"We need to ensure that all financial institutions that are leveraged are subject to regulation because the current crisis to a large extent came out of institutions that were not adequately regulated," he said.
The existing International Monetary Fund and World Bank should be adequate to oversee the global economy's recovery from the current crisis, Flaherty said. "We're in the middle of a crisis now -- probably not the best time to create a new structure." He plans to promote Canada's financial system as a model for the world.
Leaders of the Group of 20 began arriving in Washington on Friday for a series of meetings over two days to discuss ways to turn around the global financial crisis.
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2008)
