I'm normally a pretty quiet guy and I know that this blog is supposed to focus on investing, but right now I feel like going out and protesting against the upcoming G20 meeting in my home city of Toronto, which takes place June 26-27.  Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the world leaders getting together to talk over problems. But they should be doing it on a cruise ship in the middle of some ocean where they won't inconvenience millions of people and invite the crazies to smash windows and overturn cars. That would make a lot more sense than shutting down a major city.  G20 Summit Comes To Toronto  If anyone is looking for a reason to be angry at Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, here it is. Apparently it was his bright idea to host the G20 meeting and to plunk it down in the middle of the country's largest city. Having the G8 get-together in the remote Ontario resort community of Huntsville was fine. The luxurious Deerhurst Lodge, where the meeting will be held, is the equivalent to a cruise ship surrounded by forest. But the Prime Minister never should have gone that extra mile and offered to host the G20 as well.  It will showcase Toronto and Canada to the world, Canadians were told. Some showcase! What the world is seeing is Toronto as an armed camp with a fenced-off no-go zone and hundreds of police in riot gear. The security tab is in the region C$1 billion.  Theatres, stores, restaurants, museums and offices are closing for the duration of the pow-wow. The Toronto Blue Jays have moved three home games originally scheduled to be played at the Rogers Communications' (RCI) Rogers Centre to Philadelphia. Trains won't be stopping at Union Station, the city's main rail terminal. It looks as if the heart of Canada's financial district is about to become a ghost town, inhabited only by police, demonstrators and the cosseted G20 leaders and staff. The U.S. State Department is so nervous about the potential for violence that it is telling its citizens to visit somewhere else while the meeting is on.  Meantime, the lunatic fringe is promising to make its presence felt and representatives of various groups seem reluctant to condemn violence when interviewed on TV. Even the fire-bombing of a bank in Ottawa is met with a shrug of the shoulders. This does not bode well for Toronto's downtown. It's a safe bet there will be a lot more media coverage of street clashes with police than there will be of the conference itself.  None of this is to suggest these talks aren't important. In fact, they're more critical than usual because we're seeing signs that the global recovery is faltering and that we may be sliding back towards recession. If that should happen, it could be worse than 2008-09 because governments won't be able to provide the economic stimulus that helped us get through that mess. In fact, given the austerity programs that many countries have been forced to implement, reduced government spending will be a drag on growth for the next few years. There is no more money for trillion-dollar bail-outs.  Special Offer: Canadian energy trusts like Baytex Energy (BTE) and Pengrowth Energy (PGH) can yield from 7% to 14%, but are these payouts what you'll really pocket? Click here for what to buy and what to avoid in The Canada Report.  Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney zeroed in on this point in a speech last week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. "The coming age of austerity carries its own risks," he said. "Fiscal policy that is tighter, sooner for all could create deficient demand in the global economy. To recoup this enormous sum ($7 trillion), both the public and private sectors must be bold."  All this adds up to the fact that we are in an extremely vulnerable position and there are already indications that there is serious trouble ahead. Global trade appears to be slowing, according to the little-known barometer known as the Baltic Dry Index (BALDRY). The European sovereign debt crisis is spreading and it's not limited to Greece and Spain. Even major countries like Great Britain are in trouble. The U.S. economic recovery is weaker than expected and the fiscal mess in Washington continues with no fix in sight.  So yes, world leaders have a lot to talk about in the next few days. It's just too bad they couldn't have picked somewhere else to do it.
The world's leaders are meeting in Toronto this week. They have a lot to discuss but Torontonians wish they were doing it elsewhere.