“People are looking around and thinking, ‘I’m going to six to eight summits a year – why am I going to this one too?”
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper departs for the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, some are wondering whether he may be attending the last of these gatherings. A failed free trade agreement, tensions between Venezuela and the United States and splits along regional and political lines are all undermining the summit, making this one potentially pivotal to the entire endeavour. “People are looking around and thinking, ‘I’m going to six to eight summits a year – why am I going to this one too? Just because the Americans are there, just to meet Obama?”‘ says Carlo Dade, executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas. “This summit has to step up and start delivering something, show real progress.”