Dozens of businesses in the city centre say they haven't received any federal compensation following last summer's G20 meetings, which led to large-scale street closures and rampant vandalism in major retail areas in Toronto.
Kevin Parker from the Queen Street West landmark Steve's Music said that his storefront was seriously damaged when a police cruiser was set on fire only metres from the store.
2/08/2011
French Fin Min: G-20 Must Protect Financial Product Consumers
PARIS (Dow Jones)--French finance minister Christine Lagarde Tuesday said she will ask her G-20 counterparts to define common principles on protecting consumers of financial products.
Consumer rights should be high on the agenda of the Group of 20 leading economies, Lagarde said in a statement ahead of next week's meeting.
Consumer rights should be high on the agenda of the Group of 20 leading economies, Lagarde said in a statement ahead of next week's meeting.
2/07/2011
FOCUS: G-20 Ponders More Inclusive Governance
PARIS (Dow Jones)--An updated report commissioned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy will recommend that the Group of 20 industrialized economies undergo a major structural overhaul while also expanding the powers of the International Monetary Fund to deal more effectively with future financial crises, according to one of the report's authors.
France, which this year holds the G20's rotating presidency, has made reforming the international monetary system, curbing the volatility of commodities prices and improving global governance its top priorities.
France, which this year holds the G20's rotating presidency, has made reforming the international monetary system, curbing the volatility of commodities prices and improving global governance its top priorities.
2/04/2011
Sarkozy comes to Turkey wearing his G-20 hat
French officials are looking forward to their president’s visit to Turkey on Feb. 25. He will come within his capacity as president of the G-20. This will be his second visit with this hat after Washington. “This visit shows the importance France attaches to hearing Turkey’s views on issues that the G-20 will be tackling,” say French officials.
I cannot help but have a cynical attitude about the visit, which is expected to take place in Ankara probably without a stop in Istanbul, the financial center of Turkey. It is a known fact that Nicolas Sarkozy prefers to stay away from Turkey in order to avoid giving contradictory messages to his own public, which has always heard how Turkey needs to stay outside the European Union. This is also the view of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, yet this has not stopped her from coming to Turkey. It is not possible to understand Sarkozy’s anxiety of not being photographed on Turkish (or should I say Anatolian) soil. The G-20 presidency obviously provided an excellent pretext to come to Turkey.
Although I do not have the intention of overestimating the importance of the visit, I should not underestimate the perspective of the French officials, which is possibly shared by Turkish officials as well. Instead of looking at the visit from a cynical, negative point of view, they prefer to see the cup half-full. Although Sarkozy met Turkish leadership on the sidelines of international conferences, nothing takes the place of a visit. And at least, one can hope, he will have an extra five minutes in the plane before landing at Esenboğa Airport to be briefed on Turkish-French economic relations, and might be surprised with the volume it has reached. There might even be an extra five minutes in the car from the airport to the Prime Ministry for him to be briefed on Turkish views toward regional issues, which again he might find the overlap much to his surprise. And perhaps he might have an extra three minutes on his fight back to Paris to reflect on Turkey.
Obviously he cannot leave Ankara without touching on bilateral ties as well as the regional turmoil. Yet he will also have to lend an ear to what Turkey thinks of the global economic issues.
Most of the emerging economies that became interested in an enlarged G-8 were at the beginning solely interested in being part of it, Turkey included. At the beginning their contribution remained a little limited, as some of the essential international financial and monetary issues were rather managed directly by developed countries, although the rest of the world suffered consequences. Take the subprime mortgage crisis. As the system did not exist in Turkey, you would not expect Turkey or other countries to brainstorm for a remedy. In fact, leaders within Turkey’s state mechanism, as well as the opinion makers, did not ponder too much about what to do for a better international economic system, as they had enough to ponder about the problems of Turkey’s economy.
Actually in 2009, when Great Britain held the G-20 presidency, the British consulate, in cooperation with a Turkish university, initiated a series of conferences in Istanbul to brainstorm on the G-20 agenda. It struck me at the time that it was the British consulate that took the mission upon itself to stimulate discussion on international financial issues.
The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has ambitiously aimed to have a say in international organizations. In fact Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is on the record saying that Turkey will and should have a say in shaping the new world order. The government takes pride when some countries in the southern flank tell Turkey it should be their voice in organizations like the G-20. In fact Davutoğlu has been saying Turkey will be the voice of the poor and the victim. It is no coincidence that the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Council of Europe in Istanbul will take place at the same time as the summit of less developed countries. In order to take on such a mission, Turkey needs to be well prepared. It seems that Turkey’s civil servants have been more active in the preparatory meetings, voicing detailed demands. In doing so, they should not neglect being in touch with those countries that expect their views to be voiced by Turkey.
Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com
I cannot help but have a cynical attitude about the visit, which is expected to take place in Ankara probably without a stop in Istanbul, the financial center of Turkey. It is a known fact that Nicolas Sarkozy prefers to stay away from Turkey in order to avoid giving contradictory messages to his own public, which has always heard how Turkey needs to stay outside the European Union. This is also the view of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, yet this has not stopped her from coming to Turkey. It is not possible to understand Sarkozy’s anxiety of not being photographed on Turkish (or should I say Anatolian) soil. The G-20 presidency obviously provided an excellent pretext to come to Turkey.
Although I do not have the intention of overestimating the importance of the visit, I should not underestimate the perspective of the French officials, which is possibly shared by Turkish officials as well. Instead of looking at the visit from a cynical, negative point of view, they prefer to see the cup half-full. Although Sarkozy met Turkish leadership on the sidelines of international conferences, nothing takes the place of a visit. And at least, one can hope, he will have an extra five minutes in the plane before landing at Esenboğa Airport to be briefed on Turkish-French economic relations, and might be surprised with the volume it has reached. There might even be an extra five minutes in the car from the airport to the Prime Ministry for him to be briefed on Turkish views toward regional issues, which again he might find the overlap much to his surprise. And perhaps he might have an extra three minutes on his fight back to Paris to reflect on Turkey.
Obviously he cannot leave Ankara without touching on bilateral ties as well as the regional turmoil. Yet he will also have to lend an ear to what Turkey thinks of the global economic issues.
Most of the emerging economies that became interested in an enlarged G-8 were at the beginning solely interested in being part of it, Turkey included. At the beginning their contribution remained a little limited, as some of the essential international financial and monetary issues were rather managed directly by developed countries, although the rest of the world suffered consequences. Take the subprime mortgage crisis. As the system did not exist in Turkey, you would not expect Turkey or other countries to brainstorm for a remedy. In fact, leaders within Turkey’s state mechanism, as well as the opinion makers, did not ponder too much about what to do for a better international economic system, as they had enough to ponder about the problems of Turkey’s economy.
Actually in 2009, when Great Britain held the G-20 presidency, the British consulate, in cooperation with a Turkish university, initiated a series of conferences in Istanbul to brainstorm on the G-20 agenda. It struck me at the time that it was the British consulate that took the mission upon itself to stimulate discussion on international financial issues.
The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has ambitiously aimed to have a say in international organizations. In fact Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is on the record saying that Turkey will and should have a say in shaping the new world order. The government takes pride when some countries in the southern flank tell Turkey it should be their voice in organizations like the G-20. In fact Davutoğlu has been saying Turkey will be the voice of the poor and the victim. It is no coincidence that the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Council of Europe in Istanbul will take place at the same time as the summit of less developed countries. In order to take on such a mission, Turkey needs to be well prepared. It seems that Turkey’s civil servants have been more active in the preparatory meetings, voicing detailed demands. In doing so, they should not neglect being in touch with those countries that expect their views to be voiced by Turkey.
Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com
2/03/2011
Tackle export bans to ease food crisis
Listening to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France one can only fear for the G20 agenda for food security and commodities policy.
Vitriolic attacks on speculators seem to be at the centre of the discourse. But behind the rhetoric – which is mostly linked to domestic politics – lies an interesting agenda that could really help to mitigate the current spike in volatility and prices in agricultural commodities markets.
While most politicians focus on speculation, I strongly believe that the current spike in agricultural prices was exacerbated by policy – export bans – and lack of information, as no one really knows what the current level of stocks is.
France must tackle both problems during Mr Sarkozy’s chairmanship of the G20, which runs till November. They may seem rather dull problems when it is more headline-catching to demonise speculators. But addressing these problems would do a lot more to bring down prices or, at least, mitigate volatility than another call for a clampdown on speculation.
The restrictions in agricultural commodities exports are legal under global commerce rules, even for those countries, such as Ukraine, that are bound by their membership to the World Trade Organisation.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the core treaty of the WTO, has since 1947 banned “prohibitions or restrictions” on exports of commodities. However, it permits them when “temporarily applied to prevent or relieve critical shortages of foodstuffs or other products essential” to the exporting country. To add to the confusion, the treaty fails to explain what it means by “temporarily” or what is a “critical shortage”, leaving countries ample room for manoeuvre.
France is likely to find strong support for its proposal to regulate export bans from fellow European countries and Japan, South Korea and the US. But Argentina, Brazil, India and China are reluctant to back them. At the end, Paris may have to settle for some form of gentleman’s agreement on export bans, with promises from large exporters not to abuse them.
The other area in which Paris needs to make progress is in the effective distribution of reliable information.
I am told that when Russia imposed its export ban, resulting in a spike in the prices of wheat and other agricultural commodities, President Sarkozy demanded information about the level of stocks. Of course, he was right in asking for that particular piece of data: if stocks are high, they will cushion the lack of sales from a major exporter. His advisers were at pains to explain that the current information about global stocks, production and demand was rather poor.
In reality, we know little about the current status of global physical agricultural commodities markets. Only the big trading houses – Cargill, Archer Daniel Midlands, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Glencore, Wilmar, Noble and Olam – have a proper understanding of the situation.
Governments are mostly in the dark. A senior Western official recently told me that his estimates of stocks of wheat, corn and soyabean in China – which are widely followed by the market – are nothing more than “informed guesses”.
The problem is that many countries see information about agricultural commodities markets, particularly the level of stocks, as state secrets. Don’t expect China and India to welcome Paris’ idea for more disclosure. Even so, the G20 could offer more money and resources to institutions such the Rome-based UN’ Food and Agriculture Organisation to provide better and more up-to-date data. For that, the FAO should stop relying on information largely provided by member governments and instead do its own estimates based on field work and satellite images.
Both proposals surely sound less sexy than the attacks on speculators, but if Paris is able to achieve some advances, it could make a great difference in coming years.
Source: http://www.ft.com
Vitriolic attacks on speculators seem to be at the centre of the discourse. But behind the rhetoric – which is mostly linked to domestic politics – lies an interesting agenda that could really help to mitigate the current spike in volatility and prices in agricultural commodities markets.
While most politicians focus on speculation, I strongly believe that the current spike in agricultural prices was exacerbated by policy – export bans – and lack of information, as no one really knows what the current level of stocks is.
France must tackle both problems during Mr Sarkozy’s chairmanship of the G20, which runs till November. They may seem rather dull problems when it is more headline-catching to demonise speculators. But addressing these problems would do a lot more to bring down prices or, at least, mitigate volatility than another call for a clampdown on speculation.
The restrictions in agricultural commodities exports are legal under global commerce rules, even for those countries, such as Ukraine, that are bound by their membership to the World Trade Organisation.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the core treaty of the WTO, has since 1947 banned “prohibitions or restrictions” on exports of commodities. However, it permits them when “temporarily applied to prevent or relieve critical shortages of foodstuffs or other products essential” to the exporting country. To add to the confusion, the treaty fails to explain what it means by “temporarily” or what is a “critical shortage”, leaving countries ample room for manoeuvre.
France is likely to find strong support for its proposal to regulate export bans from fellow European countries and Japan, South Korea and the US. But Argentina, Brazil, India and China are reluctant to back them. At the end, Paris may have to settle for some form of gentleman’s agreement on export bans, with promises from large exporters not to abuse them.
The other area in which Paris needs to make progress is in the effective distribution of reliable information.
I am told that when Russia imposed its export ban, resulting in a spike in the prices of wheat and other agricultural commodities, President Sarkozy demanded information about the level of stocks. Of course, he was right in asking for that particular piece of data: if stocks are high, they will cushion the lack of sales from a major exporter. His advisers were at pains to explain that the current information about global stocks, production and demand was rather poor.
In reality, we know little about the current status of global physical agricultural commodities markets. Only the big trading houses – Cargill, Archer Daniel Midlands, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Glencore, Wilmar, Noble and Olam – have a proper understanding of the situation.
Governments are mostly in the dark. A senior Western official recently told me that his estimates of stocks of wheat, corn and soyabean in China – which are widely followed by the market – are nothing more than “informed guesses”.
The problem is that many countries see information about agricultural commodities markets, particularly the level of stocks, as state secrets. Don’t expect China and India to welcome Paris’ idea for more disclosure. Even so, the G20 could offer more money and resources to institutions such the Rome-based UN’ Food and Agriculture Organisation to provide better and more up-to-date data. For that, the FAO should stop relying on information largely provided by member governments and instead do its own estimates based on field work and satellite images.
Both proposals surely sound less sexy than the attacks on speculators, but if Paris is able to achieve some advances, it could make a great difference in coming years.
Source: http://www.ft.com
2/02/2011
Toronto police officer Babak Andalib-Goortani charged for G-20 assault
A Toronto Police Service officer has been arrested and charged.
Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani, 30, has over three years' service and is assigned to 31 Division.
On Friday, January 21, 2011, the Toronto Police Service began a criminal investigation based on a complaint received by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
It is alleged that:
- on Saturday, June 26, 2010, Constable Andalib-Goortani assaulted a woman by hitting her with his baton, in the area of Queen's Park.
On Tuesday, February 1, 2011, Constable Andalib-Goortani was arrested and charged with Assault with a Weapon.
He is scheduled to appear in court at College Park on Monday, March 7, 2011 at 10 a.m., room 507.
Source: http://www.oyetimes.com
Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani, 30, has over three years' service and is assigned to 31 Division.
On Friday, January 21, 2011, the Toronto Police Service began a criminal investigation based on a complaint received by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
It is alleged that:
- on Saturday, June 26, 2010, Constable Andalib-Goortani assaulted a woman by hitting her with his baton, in the area of Queen's Park.
On Tuesday, February 1, 2011, Constable Andalib-Goortani was arrested and charged with Assault with a Weapon.
He is scheduled to appear in court at College Park on Monday, March 7, 2011 at 10 a.m., room 507.
Source: http://www.oyetimes.com
2/01/2011
G20 activist loses challenge to rescind bail conditions
TORONTO — A Montreal activist banned from demonstrating after last summer's G20 protests has lost his bid to have the restriction overturned.
Jaggi Singh, who faces conspiracy charges in connection with the protests, asked a Toronto court to rescind his bail conditions, which include a ban on demonstrating.
Singh's lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, says the court's decision issued today upholds the ban, but releases his client from house arrest and the obligation to live with one of his sureties.
Rosenthal says he is "disappointed" with the decision.
He says Singh could bring his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, but there's only a "very small chance" the court would hear it.
There is a publication ban on the reasons for the decision.
Singh is a community organizer with the Anti-Capitalist Convergence as well as No One Is Illegal-Montreal.
Other G20 conspiracy defendants face restrictive curfews and house arrest.
A co-accused, Alex Hundert, is also prohibited from appearing at public demonstrations.
Source: http://www.ctv.ca
Jaggi Singh, who faces conspiracy charges in connection with the protests, asked a Toronto court to rescind his bail conditions, which include a ban on demonstrating.
Singh's lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, says the court's decision issued today upholds the ban, but releases his client from house arrest and the obligation to live with one of his sureties.
Rosenthal says he is "disappointed" with the decision.
He says Singh could bring his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, but there's only a "very small chance" the court would hear it.
There is a publication ban on the reasons for the decision.
Singh is a community organizer with the Anti-Capitalist Convergence as well as No One Is Illegal-Montreal.
Other G20 conspiracy defendants face restrictive curfews and house arrest.
A co-accused, Alex Hundert, is also prohibited from appearing at public demonstrations.
Source: http://www.ctv.ca
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