A forum on the issues surrounding globalization was held at the T.C. Douglas Centre on Thursday evening, with the forum organized by the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation (SCIC).

"Our goal is to move beyond the black and white perceptions of globalization," said Lori Latta the co-ordinator of SCIC. The public deliberations are being held across Saskatchewan to discuss globalization. The month-long talks are entitled "A World in Common: Talking About What Matters in a Borderless World."

The three-hour forum involved people from all different backgrounds and occupations. This variety of people were chosen to bring up different aspects of the issue of globalization and to inspire different approaches to solving the problems. One of the key points of the deliberation is for everyone to find an underlying commonality between themselves and their opinions.

The deliberations were directed by Linda Anderson, a moderator from Regina. Anderson laid down ground rules at the beginning of the deliberation and kept the group focused on the topic at hand, to keep everyone within the time constraints. Anderson stressed before the discussion began that it was not a debate or a battle over who is right or wrong. The deliberations instead were meant to focus on choices and engage those involved to look deeper into the issue and develop new ideas.

The SCIC's definition of globalization is, "A process of global economic and cultural integration ­ the emergence of a 'world of borders.' Globalization is characterized by the spread of the market economy and the removal of barriers to the flow of goods, services, money and information. It is also characterized by increasingly rapid change fueled by technological developments, by growing economic power of multinational corporations, and by recognition of global environmental issues such as climate change and depletion of the ozone layer."

This definition was the starting point for the deliberation; from there the discussion was broken into three different approaches to dealing with the problems that arise from globalization. The first choice is to strengthen local communities, which concentrates on keeping communities strong and giving them independence. The second option is to increase Canada's competitiveness on a global level. The third option is to build a fairer global economy.

Anderson set a 40-minute discussion time for each topic. The 40 minutes were then split in half at which time the floor was opened to anyone who wished to speak. The first half of the discussion had to focus on the positive aspect of the solution, while the second half focused on the cons of the solution or ways it could be improved.

Some key points and questions that arose many times in the discussions were such comments as: Free trade doesn't always mean fair trade; can the world sustain if everyone is living at the American standard of life; how do you define poverty when it varies so greatly from country to country; globalization can't be stopped, but what regulations should be established; what responsibility should individuals be taking on themselves?

Another issue brought up was where globalization is going to leave the world for the generations to come. This concept was very important to two youths from the Weyburn Comprehensive School, Katie Wolfe and Jen Shelley. Wolfe thought the evening was a great event.

"The diversity in the room made the (deliberations) all that much better. It was interesting to hear that the different perceptions and ideas that (Canadians) have may not be the same as residents of other countries, which I think shows we need to find a balance somehow."

Tom Collings, the Weyburn organizer of the forum, said that everyone he talked to after the deliberations was very pleased with the talk.

"It gave people a definition (on globalization) and clarified the options to lead people to an overall greater understanding," he said.

Collings is hoping that they will be able to work with the SCIC to organize another forum session, which would allow everyone to delve deeper into concerns and options with globalization.