 
Church Coalition makes Public 10,000 "Invoices"
Calling G8 Leaders to Account for Social
and Ecological Devastation
25 June 2002
(June 25, 2002 - CALGARY) -- On the eve of the G8 summit in Kananaskis,
outside Knox United Church in Calgary, members of the Canadian inter-church
justice coalition KAIROS made public a huge paper chain made up
of 10,000 signed "invoices" calling G8 leaders "to
account" for outstanding social and ecological debts created
by policies they have imposed on countries around the world.
The invoices signed by concerned citizens from across Canada were
collected during a KAIROS tour that visited eight Canadian cities
prior to the arrival of G8 leaders for the Kananaskis Summit.
The tour took respected leaders of citizens' organizations in
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Argentina and Sri Lanka to talk with
Canadians about their first hand experience of the impact of G8
policies. The international visitors also shared their concerns
about the implications of G8 proposals like the so-called New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NePAD) and called for alternative policies
that have the support of broad-based grassroots movements.
From Moncton, New Brunswick to Kelowna, B.C., Canadians responded
by signing invoices that call the leaders of G8 countries to account
for "perpetuating an unjust economic regime" and "failing
to safeguard a future for the generations that follow".
"It's clear that many Canadians are concerned about our government's
role within an elite group of rich and powerful countries that continues
to impose economic austerity programs and so-called trade liberalization
policies on poorer countries with disastrous consequences for the
lives of millions of people," states Pat Steenberg, Executive
Director of KAIROS.
Adds Steenberg: "The thoughtful messages so many people wrote
on their invoices also indicate solid support for a significantly
different economic approach that puts people, communities and a
healthy environment first."
"Our world needs leaders committed to the common good - adequate
health care, education, housing, clean water, protection of the
environment, food security, sharing of resources, respect for human
rights and diversity of cultures," wrote Jennifer Watts of
Halifax on her invoice to the G8. "Please choose to make a
difference in this world - one for the common good."
On June 24, KAIROS couriered a box of 1,000 invoices to the Prime
Minister's Office in Ottawa, together with a letter urging the host
of the Kananaskis G8 summit to "hear the voices and concerns
of your people, expressed in these messages".
KAIROS staff attempted to fax other invoices from Calgary —
the final stop on KAIROS' Calling the G8 to Account tour —
to Kananaskis where the G8 leaders will meet on June 26 and 27.
Earlier, in an Open Letter sent to the Prime Minister on June
17, KAIROS specifically called on the G8 for 100 percent cancellation
of all bilateral and multilateral debts owed by low-income countries,
independent mechanisms to assess and cancel the illegitimate debts
of all developing countries, and an end to austere economic restructuring
measures — known as structural adjustment programs (SAPs)
— which poor countries have been required to implement in
order to qualify for debt cancellation or further loans.
KAIROS also signalled regret over Prime Minister Chrétien's
decision to promote the NePAD initiative, given that it "does
not break away from the failed economic model embodied in SAPs"
and "involves an even greater opening up of African economies
to foreign investment, especially in hydro-electric, mining and
petroleum projects."
States the KAIROS letter to the Prime Minister: "Our church
partners in Africa call NEPAD 'a partnership with African leaders
without the African people' and demand that citizens be consulted
before these plans are implemented."
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