Martin basks in success of G20 creation as Harper sees light

OTTAWA - The delicious irony is not lost on Paul Martin.

Not only has his once-scorned G20 creation suddenly emerged as the go-to body of global economic governance, but Stephen Harper - the man who replaced him as prime minister and once heaped scorn on the idea - will preside over the unofficial launch. "I must say, I feel pretty good," Martin said Friday upon hearing that Canada will host back-to-back meetings of the G8 and G20 countries next June.

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When he was Canadian Alliance leader in 2003, Harper attacked Martin's G20 as an example of Canada's "weak nation strategy."

He dismissed it as "nothing more than old multilateralism with a smaller cast of characters ... (designed) to rein in the United States."

Harper is now humming a very different tune, acknowledging the transformation of the G20 as the world's "premier" economic summit.

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http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=n251017917

I have never been a fan of Paul Martin but I have to say I love that Harper has to eat crow on this, lol.

and will end up being the one who makes the transition at the next meeting.

Congratulations to Paul Martin, for an idea whose time has come.

And to Harper, a big raspberry. :rofl: