Transcript: Sheldon Alberts interviews Prime Minister Stephen Harpe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper leaves for Europe on Tuesday for the Group of 20 leaders meeting on the global economic crisis, where he will press for nations to spend up to two per cent of their GDPs on fiscal stimulus packages. Later in the week, he’ll attend the NATO summit.
Ahead of the two summits, Harper spoke Sunday with Canwest News Washington correspondent Sheldon Alberts at a suite in Washington’s Willard-Intercontinental Hotel. Among the topics, Harper’s reaction to the new U.S. strategy on Afghanistan, whether Defence Minister Peter MacKay should be NATO’s new secretary general, and auto industry bailouts.
Following is a transcript of that conversation:
QUESTION: On the G20, Canada still supports the two per cent GDP goal as something that G20 nations should be looking for in terms of stimulus. Is that a fair assessment?
PRIME MINISTER HARPER: Well, we certainly think that countries should be fulfilling that. That was a commitment made in Washington at the G20 meeting in Nov