14th G7 summit | |
---|---|
Host country | Canada |
Dates | June 19–20, 1988 |
Venue(s) | Metro Toronto Convention Centre |
Cities | Toronto, Ontario |
Follows | 13th G7 summit |
Precedes | 15th G7 summit |
The 14th G7 Summit was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between June 19 and 21, 1988. The venue for the summit meetings was the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Downtown Toronto. [1]
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (since 1976), [2] and the President of the European Commission (starting officially in 1981). [3] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the first Group of Six (G6) summit in 1975. [4]
Unlike the relatively low key summit at Château Montebello in 1981, the Toronto summit was held under tight security with involvement of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Metro Toronto Police.
Canada was the first member of the G7 or G8 to host both this kind of Summit and an Olympic Games in the same calendar year. In February, Calgary, Alberta, hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics. Canada would do this again 22 years later when they hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia and then the 36th G8 summit and the 4th G20 summit in Huntsville, Ontario and Toronto respectively.
The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. [3]
The 14th G7 summit was the first summit for Italian Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita and was the last summit for US President Ronald Reagan. [5] It was also the first and only summit for Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.
These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum: [6] [1] [7]
Core G7 members Host state and leader are shown in bold text. | |||
Member | Represented by | Title | |
---|---|---|---|
Canada | Brian Mulroney | Prime Minister | |
France | François Mitterrand | President | |
West Germany | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor | |
Italy | Ciriaco De Mita | Prime Minister | |
Japan | Noboru Takeshita | Prime Minister | |
United Kingdom | Margaret Thatcher | Prime Minister | |
United States | Ronald Reagan | President | |
European Community | Jacques Delors | Commission President | |
Helmut Kohl | Council President |
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. [4] Issues which were discussed at this summit included:
The Toronto-based Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes issued a number of press releases leading up to the economic summit pointing out that the local vice squads were tasked with cleaning up the city streets through a coordinated crackdown on sex workers. [8] This crackdown and economic summit took place in Toronto amidst the tumultuous restructuring of the Canadian Criminal Code to outlaw commercial sex by criminalizing communication for the purpose of obtaining commercial sexual services in public. [9] Similar crackdowns against other street-involved communities (drug users, the homeless, gays and lesbians, transgender people) continue today in the lead up to large economic summits like the G7, IMF, World Bank as well as sporting events like the World Cup, the Olympics, and Formula One. [10] [11] [12] [13]
The 9th G7 Summit was held at Williamsburg, Virginia, United States between May 28 and 30, 1983. The venue for the summit meetings was Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
The 21st G7 summit was held on June 15–17, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The venue for this summit meeting was Summit Place in Halifax. It was labelled by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as a "Chevrolet Summit", using a utilitarian automobile as a metaphor for the summit being less expensive than previous summits in Versailles and Venice.
The 2nd G7 Summit, also called Rambouillet II, was held at Dorado, Puerto Rico, between June 27 and 28, 1976. The venue for the summit meetings was the Dorado Beach Hotel, now Dorado Beach Resort, which is near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The 3rd G7 Summit was held in London, United Kingdom between 7–8 May 1977. The venue for the summit meetings was the British Prime Minister's official residence at No. 10 Downing Street in London.
The 4th G7 Summit was held at Bonn, West Germany between 16 and 17 July 1978. The venue for the summit meeting was at the former official residence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, the Palais Schaumburg.
The 5th G7 Summit was held at Tokyo, Japan between June 28 and 29, 1979. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse.
The 6th G7 Summit was held at Venice, Italy between 22 and 23 June 1980. The venue for the summit meetings was the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Venetian lagoon.
The 7th G7 Summit was called the Ottawa Summit, and was held in Montebello, Quebec, Canada and nearby Ottawa between July 20 and 21, 1981. The venue for the summit meetings was the Château Montebello.
The 25th G8 Summit was held in Cologne, Germany, on 18–20 June 1999. The venue for this summit meeting was the Museum Ludwig in the central city.
The 24th G8 Summit was held in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom on 15–17 May 1998. The venue for this summit meeting was the International Convention Centre.
The 13th G7 Summit was held in Venice, Italy between 8 and 10 June 1987. The venue for the summit meetings was the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Venetian lagoon.
The 12th G7 Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan between May 4 and May 6, 1986. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse.
The 11th G7 Summit was held in Bonn, West Germany between May 2 and May 4, 1985. The venue for the summit meeting was at the former official residence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, the Palais Schaumburg.
The 15th G7 Summit was held in the business district of La Défense to the west of Paris, France between 14 and 16 July 1989. The venue for the summit meetings was the Grande Arche which was rushed to completion for celebrations marking the bicentennial of the French Revolution and for the world economic summit meeting that was held in the top of the Arche. This event was also called the "Summit of the Arch."
The 10th G7 Summit was held in London, England, United Kingdom from 7 to 9 June 1984. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London.
The 8th G7 Summit was held in Versailles, France from 4 to 6 June 1982. The venue for the summit meetings was at the Palace of Versailles.
The 17th G7 Summit was held in England between 15 and 17 July 1991. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London.
The 18th G7 Summit was held in Munich, Germany between 6 and 8 July 1992. The venue for the summit meetings was at the Residenz palace in central Munich.
The 19th G7 Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan, on July 7–9, 1993. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse in Tokyo, Japan.
The 20th G7 Summit was held in Naples, Italy, on 8–10 July 1994. The venue for the summit meetings was the former Royal Palace in Naples.