Canadian PM snubs Trinidad and Tobago?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Sunday he has invited several African, Caribbean and South American countries to a meeting on development and security issues, to be held on the sidelines of the G8 summit later this month.

Trinidad and Tobago is not on the list which includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Colombia, Jamaica and Haiti.

"The G8 has a long tradition of developing credible solutions to global challenges in partnership with Africa and others in the international community," the Canadian leader said in a statement.

Harper said the gathering aimed to "broaden representation and maximize results on international development and peace and security issues."

The Group of Eight summit of leading economies is to take place in Huntsville in the picturesque Muskoka region north of Toronto on June 25 and 26. It will be immediately followed by a G20 summit in Toronto from June 26-27.

The government has invested a billion dollars (Cdn) on security in the downtown core, which will become a ghost town, except for the crush of protesters expected for the talks.