(Adds finance ministers' comments)
By Louise Egan
OTTAWA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - G7 finance officials will meet in a remote Canadian Arctic town in February for a low-key "fireside chat" about the global financial crisis, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday.
Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world's most industrialized countries will travel to Iqaluit, capital of the northern territory of Nunavut, for the February 5-6 session. A communique at the end of the meeting is unlikely, the minister said.
Flaherty, who admitted the unusual choice of venue has "intrigued" his colleagues, is chairing the group at a time when it is being phased out.
In its place, the more inclusive Group of 20 -- which includes emerging powers like China, India and Brazil -- is becoming the preeminent forum for intentional policy-making.
"We're trying to bring the G7 finance ministers meeting back to what they were originally and that is more in the nature of a fireside chat: informal, limited agenda, probably not a communique," he told reporters.
He also promised to provide delegates with warm coats and an Inuit feast -- possibly including seal meat -- in a town where the average February temperature is -23.8 Celsius (-11 Fahrenheit). [ID:nN18128719]
The decision to elevate the G20 over the Group of 7 and Group of 8 (which includes Russia) has led to some confusion over the role that each will play. Next year is seen as the last in which the G7 and G8 will hold formal meetings.
In the past, G7 communiques were often market-moving commentaries on the state of the global economy and foreign exchange policies. By contrast, the G20 is unlikely to explicitly criticize China's currency policy with that country sitting at the table, most observers agree.
G7 VS G20
While Canada chairs the G7 and will host a G8 summit in June, it is also co-chairing and hosting the G20 summit with South Korea that same month.
The tension between the exclusive G7 club and the broader G20 is reflected in a tussle between Canada and South Korea over which country will host a mid-year finance ministers meeting, according to officials and diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"We don't have a decision on that yet. ... There will be a meeting of G20 finance ministers as usual before the leaders meet. We expect it will be in June and there is still some discussion about the location," Flaherty said.
"But we're cooperating with the Koreans, this is a friendly discussion."
Washington is seen as preferring the G20 forum over the G7, while Canada, as host, is reluctant to let the narrower group slide into obsolescence.
Flaherty likened the G7 in the future to a grouping such as the European Union, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum. "(They) continue to meet and then we all come together under the G20," he said.
Officials at the February meeting would work on financial-sector reforms, ensuring a sustainable global economic recovery and strengthening international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. (Additional reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Frank McGurty)