On Oct. 30-31, 2021, twenty of the world’s most prominent heads of state gathered in Italy to discuss new global governance measures.  The question at-hand is simply this—is the G-20 and its global governance project killing democracy around the globe?  According to David Welch, “G-20 summits often yield numerous policies, laws, and regulations that improve the lives of billions of people.”  In fact, the University of Toronto’s G-20 Research Group “tracks 23 issue areas and has found that an average G-20 summit generates 194 tangible, measurable commitments, with an average compliance rate of 71% after all is said and done.”[1]   This is truly remarkable, not least because, per their website, “the G-20 represents 80% of the world’s economic activity, 75% of global trade, and directly governs 60% of the world’s population.”[2] 

Thus, it is not an overstatement to say that the G-20 dominates the entire world.  And indeed, global governance is its express purpose, as their website explicitly notes.[3]  However, an unfortunate result of this aspiration for global governance is the abrogation of national sovereignty for independent nations around the world.  

Each individual member of the G-20 is elected, with Canada being one elected member one out of twenty—but that is hardly democratic representation.  It is impossible for this sole Canadian to assert any notion of national sovereignty when dominated by nineteen other votes, none of whom Canadians voted for.  The result is significant, as people who are not elected by Canadians ultimately govern Canadians.  When related to financial decisions, this results in what is commonly known as ‘taxation without representation,’—i.e., what recently occurred when the G-20 established minimum taxation rates.  Moreover, they have promulgated an entire global taxation system built upon this foundational framework.  

It would do us well to recall history and learn from it.  The American Revolution began with a rallying cry—‘no taxation without representation’—coined by Samuel Adams who oversaw a group known as the Sons of Liberty.  As you well know, this was because King George was imposing taxes on the colonial Americans without granting them representation in British Parliament.  The most famous of these taxes was imposed on imported British tea, which led to the Boston Tea Party.  However, in the present day the aims of the G-20 extend far beyond controlling taxes on a global scale.

In addition to taxes, the G-20 determines global interest rates, inclusive of individual interest rates of its members.  As a result, interest rates have been reduced to virtually zero.  Unfortunately, each member country is independently unable to significantly change these interest rates.  This decision was made at the first real G-20 summit in Washington D.C. on November 15, 2008.  Here, the G-20 explicitly decided that the world was going to be molded by Keynesian economics.  The 2008 economic crisis afforded this powerful group the opportunity to assert their economic intentions on a global scale.  What they ultimately chose to do was borrow approximately $7 trillion dollars against future income and spread it around like candy to ostensibly bolster the depressed economy of the day.  Another American hero, Thomas Jefferson, sought to ban this type of practice, dubbing it intergenerational theft.  Jefferson rightly recognized that borrowing money against future income results in future generations—i.e., people who are not even born yet—having to repay the debt of their forefathers.

Up until March 2020, democracy movements around the world opposing globalism were increasing in intensity.  Brexit occurred—that is, the U.K. left the globalist control of the European Union.  There was the wild United States President Donald Trump, a man who could not be controlled by globalist entities.  Additionally, Hong Kong’s experienced weekly massive protests where millions of people demanded freedom and democracy.  While mainstream media rarely covered the Moroccan protests, between 800,000-1 million people marched every Saturday for eight months pleading for a truly democratic and representative government.  To be sure, these are just some of the more memorable movements.  In actuality, many others sprung up across the globe.  Populism, which is directly related to fostering democracy, was on the rise.  

However, all these movements collectively evaporated on March 16, 2020, when the G-20, through its powerful G-7 subgroup, gathered in a virtual summit and voted to shut down the world’s economy the following day.  Everything ground to a screeching halt on a global scale, including these movements seeking freedom and democracy.  The G-20 reasserted itself through this deceitful maneuver, re-gaining its power, and even garnering new abilities, such as powers to lockdown people in their homes and remove the rights and freedoms of citizens, even from those people living in already democratic countries.

A shocking fact that many are unaware of is that the G-20 was started by Canada.  We are well-acquainted with the running joke about Canada invading America.  However, it appears as though Canada aimed much higher than just America—instead, by moving towards global governance, they are unironically seeking global domination.  This is indeed possible because the G-20 is a Canadian-made construct.   According to Dr. John Kirton of the University of Toronto, “Canada has been the successful entrepreneurial conceiver, co-creator, and normative policy shaper of the G20 since its inception.  Under Paul Martin, Canada invented the concept and mission of the G20, co-creating it as a finance ministerial forum in 1999.  Under Stephen Harper in 2008, Canada supported its elevation to becoming a full-fledged summit.  In 2018, Canada hosted the G-20, which led to numerous important policy outcomes.”[4] 

When freedom is placed on the back burner, democracy is threatened.  Today, people are losing their jobs, their ability to travel, their protections under the Bill of Rights, and other essential constitutional guarantees. National sovereignty has been quashed for the ‘greater good’ of global governance.  The G-20 has asserted global supremacy and as a result, democracy suffers.

[1]  Welch, David. “Are G20 Summits worth It?” The Global Governance Project. July 09, 2019. https://www.globalgovernanceproject.org/are-g20-summits-worth-it/.

[2]  https://www.g20.org/about-the-g20.html

[3] : www.globalgovernanceproject.org

[4]  Kirton, John. “Canada’s G20 Entrepreneurship.” International Journal 73, no. 4 (December 2018): 554–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020702018810861.