Canada’s one billion dollar hosting of the G8 and G20 Summits may not be worth the cost, say CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business panel. The many possible summit objectives are all commendable or very commendable, say panelists. But they are unlikely to be achieved given the many conflicting interests of the participants in these summits.

All seven possible Summit goals presented to panelists are embraced by the CEOs and business leaders on the panel. At the top of the list of desirable objectives for these meetings are

• Collaboration to achieve a stronger world economy;
• Cooperation in the isolation of Iran;
• Agreement about achieving better quality bank regulation;
• More transparency and honesty in government operations given that corruption has been a barrier to economic stability in countries like Greece; and
• Strong efforts to fight trade protectionism.

Panelists embrace two other objectives as well, though with fractionally less enthusiasm: using the Summits as a platform from which to persuade the world’s investors to recognize the quality of our financial system and to realize that Canada is a top place in which to live and invest.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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