Related
The capital of Nunavut will host a major meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in February, federal officials announced Wednesday.
The Iqaluit meeting, slated for Feb. 5-6, will be the first of a series of important finance meetings to be held in Canada in 2010, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in Ottawa.
It will be followed by the G8 and G20 leaders' summits to be held in June.
Flaherty said the G7 colleagues he spoke to in Italy last summer all expressed interest in travelling to Canada's Far North for the February meeting.
"We have to limit the size of the delegations so that we can use Iqaluit, but I'm really looking forward to showing my colleagues from around the world the beauty of the Canadian Arctic in February," he said.
"It's spectacularly pristine and gorgeous. And yes, it's very cold."
Flaherty was joined by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Conservative MP for Nunavut, at Wednesday's announcement.
The meeting will include discussion on actions to strengthen the global economy, ways of following through on financial sector reforms, and ways to strengthen international financial institutions.
G7 members include Canada, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, Italy and Japan.
Flaherty, who last visited Iqaluit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August, acknowledged that his counterparts from countries such as France, Japan and Italy may be shocked by Canada's cold winter conditions, especially in the Far North.
"I promised I would get them big coats and dress them properly," he said.
Flaherty said he is also not fazed by the possibility that a February blizzard could affect travel to and from the Nunavut captial.
"I've been stuck in a blizzard in Toronto in February," he remarked. "I mean, this is Canada, after all."
Share Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- 7 Nunavik hunters could be charged after Beluga hunt
- Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans says hunters in region had already harvested quota of 315 belugas. more »
- Lawyer wants Yukon murder trial moved
- Preliminary arguments get under way in Yukon Supreme Court for accused murderer Norman Larue, his lawyer is arguing his client won't get a fair hearing in Whitehorse. more »
- Cost of investigation into Nunavut MLA to exceed $275K
- The ethics investigation into former Nunavut cabinet minister Fred Schell will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. more »
- Debate about environmental reviews heats up in the N.W.T.
- The decision by one company to withdraw plans to drill in the N.W.T. is heating up the debate around the environmental review process. more »
Top News Headlines
- Obama expected to speak on Petraeus affair
- U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to make his first public comments Wednesday on the widening scandal around two well-known generals, while lawmakers dig into the tangled tale of emails that exposed one general's career-ending extramarital affair and the other's questionable relationship with a Florida socialite. more »
- Consumer debt loads grow at fastest pace in 2 years
- Canadian debt loads grew at their fastest pace in two years during the summer, according to a report released Wednesday — an alarming rate given that officials continue to warn consumers that household spending is out of control. more »
- Israel launches airstrikes on Gaza, killing Hamas commander
- An Israeli airstrike killed the commander of the military wing of Gaza's Hamas rulers Wednesday, Hamas officials and Israel confirmed, in a dramatic resumption of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian militant leaders. more »
- Adrienne Arsenault: Ghost city shows cracks in China's urban planning
- CBC News correspondent Adrienne Arsenault went to Ordos in Inner Mongolia to get a first-hand look at some of the difficulties China has been having when it comes to planning economic and social growth on a massive scale. more »
- Toyota recalls 2.77 million vehicles
- Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 2.77 million vehicles around the world, including almost 15,000 in Canada, for a water pump problem and a steering shaft defect that may result in faulty steering, the latest in a spate of quality woes for Japan's top automaker. more »
- Lawyer wants Yukon murder trial moved
- Debate about environmental reviews heats up in the N.W.T.
- Cost of investigation into Nunavut MLA to exceed $275K
- 7 Nunavik hunters could be charged after Beluga hunt
- Alberta company blames Nunavut regulators for killing project
- Harry Winston buying Ekati mine for $500M US
- Organizers call for permanent ride program for Whitehorse
- Fort Smith, N.W.T., shelter pleads for more bylaw officers
- Police deem fire at Iqaluit jail suspicious