Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and the governors of the central banks of Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico and Canada are among the 150 world-renowned speakers. In addition to these speakers, the Conference of Montreal will welcome delegations from 24 countries, namely Afghanistan, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, England, the European Commission, France, Germany, Guinea, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and the United States.June 5, 2012 ⋅
On June 11, The Global Elite Gather in Montreal: Will the Maple Spring Say Hello?
By: Andrew Gavin Marshall
From June 11-14, Montreal will be hosting the International Economic Forum of the Americas at the 2012 Conference of Montreal, which will bring roughly 150 speakers from the global elite to speak to an audience of other elites and sympathetic media spokespersons.
This year’s conference will include as the keynote speaker, Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (the U.S. central bank), who was once considered for nearly 20 years to be “the most powerful banker in the world,” and as such, was largely responsible for causing the global financial crisis, along with the heads of the central banks of Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
There will be delegates from 24 countries around the world gathering at the Hilton Bonaventure Montreal Hotel to discuss the theme of “A Global Economy in Transition: New Strategies, New Partnerships” in front of roughly 3,000 participants.
Along with formal discussions, “the Conference of Montreal will also enable the world’s various economic and political players present on this occasion to strengthen their relationships and develop new business opportunities.”
Here is the website in English: The Conference of Montreal
This conference will include key policy-makers and power-holders in Canada, North America, and around the world.
It provides a forum through which the global elite may meet, talk, debate, shape consensus, and discuss policy-objectives of their respective nations and institutions.
The ideology of those present is relentlessly pro-globalization, pro-Capitalist, and pro-power. The speakers are often advocates of neoliberalism, globalization, fiscal austerity, privatization, corporatization, imperialism and social control.
This conference takes place in the midst of Quebec students standing up against educational austerity and protesting against policies which benefit the rich at the expense of the many. Will the ‘Maple Spring’ say hello to the global elite as they gather in Montréal?
The event, which is hosted by Power Corporation, owned by the billionaire Desmarais family, and a host of other corporate sponsors, receives 25% of its funding from public sources, including the Government of Canada and the Province of Québec, which alone contributes nearly $200,000 to a Conference hosted by billionaires.
But remember, while public subsidies are available for billionaires to discuss how to make billions more, there is no money for education, social services, health care, or your future.
What is the Conference of Montreal / International Economic Forum of the Americas?
The stated “Mission” of the IEFA/Conference de Montréal is “to heighten knowledge and awareness of the major issues concerning economic globalization, with a particular emphasis on the relations between the Americas and other continents.”
The Conference “strives to foster exchanges of information, to promote free discussion on major current economic issues and facilitate meetings between world leaders to encourage international discourse by bringing together Heads of State, the private sector, international organizations and civil society.” Among the stated “Objectives” are:
* To give its participants access to privileged information while fostering free and extensive discussions on various aspects of economy, with contributors and experts from among the best qualified;
* To promote relations between governments, international organizations, business people, members of the civil society, workers associations and universities;
* To allow its participants from various areas in the world to have business meetings during which they can develop their company or organization internationally
The International Economic Forum of the Americas/Conference of Montreal began in 1994 “at a time when the globalization of the economies was beginning to emerge at an increased rate” with the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the end of the Cold War, development of NAFTA and other free-trade agreements, and thus, there was “the idea that Montreal could be the host city for an international yearly economic conference concerned with this phenomenon of the globalization of economies.” The first Conference took place in 1995.
The 18th annual conference of the International Economic Forum of the Americas will include “some of the most important international decision makers have already confirmed their attendance.” The focus of this year’s Forum will include: “the financial crisis and its impact on the world economy”; “International trade, and in particular the new Americas-European Union economic space, including the Canada-European Union trade agreement: this important trade agreement, which should be finalized in 2012” and will include “a number of executives from Canadian and European companies [who] will take the opportunity to meet at the 2012 Conference of Montreal to form new business ties for this new and important economic space”; and of course, “developing and extracting natural resources.” The full program can be reviewed here: Program 2012.
This year’s speakers list includes representatives and leaders from: the C.D. Howe Institute, the World Economic Forum, Bombardier Inc., Citibank, the European Commission, McKinsey & Company, Rio Tinto Alcan, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Rector of the University of Montreal, the President of the Canadian Bankers Association, the Governor of the Bank of Canada (a former Goldman Sachs executive), J.P. Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas, Governor of the Bank of Portugal, former Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, Power Corporation of Canada, Canadian Ambassador to the United States, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Conference Board of Canada, the World Bank, Scotiabank, PepsiCo, McGill University, Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Deutsche Bank, the Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (the central bank to the world’s central banks and the most powerful financial institution in the world), the Brookings Institution, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, the World Policy Institute and the World Bank, among many others.
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