Harper to leave Tory convention early for G20 economic summit

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will make an early exit from next month's Conservative party convention to attend the first of a series of meetings of world leaders on the global economic crisis in the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush invited fellow leaders on Wednesday to Washington to discuss possible solutions to the financial-sector meltdown that has triggered an economic chain-reaction.

The so-called Group of 20 meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15, with a leaders dinner the night before.  The Conservatives are meeting in Winnipeg from Nov. 13 to 16. Harper would ordinarily be expected to wrap up the convention with a closing address, but this time he will speak to supporters in the middle of the event, on Nov. 14.

Harper does not face a leadership review at the biennial policy convention because, under party rules, leaders only face such a test after they lose an election.

A government spokesman said it's not yet clear how much of the convention the prime minister will manage to attend. But he added that Harper will certainly be at the economic summit.

"He will be going to Washington," said Kory Teneycke.

Harper has spoken with several world leaders by telephone this week, including Bush on Monday and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday.

Officials said Harper and Brown agreed on the need for a "cohesive" international response to the economic mess.

Harper also planned to speak with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd later Wednesday.

Washington summit won't yield new policy: spokeswoman

In making the announcement about the Nov. 15 meeting, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said it will focus on the underlying causes of the financial crisis, the global response and the principles that should guide any reforms.

The November G20 meeting will be the first in a series of summits to bring the leaders together. At that meeting, working groups will be set up to develop recommendations to be considered by leaders in subsequent summits, Perino said.

But the summit is not expected to yield decisions on new policy or regulation, she added. The task of putting "meat on the bones" will be up to financial experts in the countries after the world leaders review the causes of the crisis, the response so far, and the principles of reform that should be adopted.

The summit will take place 11 days after the U.S. presidential election.

Perino said there was no way to control the timing of the financial crisis, but world leaders agreed that a summit was needed, and that Bush was excited to host it. "We will seek the input of the president-elect," she said.

The two U.S. presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, Perino said, were made aware of the summit and "they were supportive of the idea."

At a news conference in Richmond, Va., Obama declined to say whether he would attend the meeting of world leaders, saying "We have one president at a time."

The G20 is made up of: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.