The upcoming Toronto G20 summit will require participating nations to plan a road out of the recession in which the global needs of the economy are respected, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said during a brief address to a group of international negotiators on Thursday morning.

Harper said the recent recession has made it clear that world leaders will need to continue to co-operate with one another to ensure their future financial prosperity.

"We discovered that in the new world of the global economy, whether the skies herald rain or shine or otherwise, we are all in the same boat," Harper said when addressing the so-called G20 "sherpas" at an Ottawa hotel.

"And though it is natural and expected that we will defend our national interests, that national interest must be enlightened. It must take into account the overall long-term needs of the entire global economy if we are all to prosper."

The prime minister said the Toronto meeting will mark another opportunity to build the capabilities of the G20 -- a now permanent institution that he said has achieved much success in responding to the global financial crisis, but still needs to be counted upon in the months and years to come.

"It will be judged, however, by its ability not just to respond to crisis, but also its capacity to help lead the world through recovery and beyond," said Harper.

The sherpas -- perhaps better described as the senior bureaucrats from G20 nations -- will spend two days in the capital hammering out the agenda for the economic summit taking place in three months' time.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief, Robert Fife, said that while sherpas may set the official agenda for the G20 meeting, they are not the real players in the summit.

"The real meetings are when the leaders get together and they actually talk turkey and they don't actually follow the agenda, but they get onto issues that may be the most important ones facing the country," Fife told CTV News Channel from Ottawa on Thursday morning.

Harper laid out five tenets the sherpas must address when putting together the summit:

  • Ensuring that stimulus measures continue, which G20 members agreed upon at prior meetings in Washington, London and Pittsburgh
  • Further developing the global framework "for achieving long-term growth that is balanced and sustainable"
  • Strengthening regulatory reforms for the financial sector in a timely manner
  • Advancing reforms at international financial institutions "to increase their legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness"
  • Maintaining open markets

"Open, global markets have been responsible for the growing, worldwide prosperity of the past generation," the prime minister said in addressing his last point.

"If we lose our commitment to open markets for however understandable the short-term political reasons, then we will lose that prosperity."

Harper also thanked the sherpas for the work they will complete during their time in Ottawa, saying that it will pay dividends for people all over the world.

"You could hardly be engaged on work that is of more value for more people and I did want to come here and thank you for doing it," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press