Vive Le Canada is a pretty good site that I check from time to time.
www.vivelecanada.ca/article....072003920
Who really runs this country?
Contributed by: Anonymous
Do you ever wonder who is really calling the shots? Who is shaping our public policy? Who is pushing the integration of North America? Who wants to harmonize our regulations, lifestyles and consumer habits with those of the US?
If they had to guess, most people would probably identify Big Business as being behind it. But what is "big business" in Canada exactly? Who are the key players, the untouchable CEOs.
They wield more power than our politicians, yet without the mandate of the people.
Don't forget that they are people just like you and I.
Not exactly - they are far richer than the average Canadian, much more intelligent (if intelligence is measured by the number of letters following your name), and they have a much smaller social conscience, if one at all. They focus on short term profits, not long term environmental and social costs.
In the past, our government was able to exercise some type of control over the actions of corporations. We were bestowing a privilege upon them, and although we allowed them to pursue their capitalist goals we put regulations and policy in place so that the balance of power was tipped, be it ever so slightly, in favour of elected politicians over rich CEOs.
That has all changed.
The corporations have gotten smarter. They realized that they have strength in numbers. They formed the Canadian Council of Chief Executives in 2005. Two of the members now sit on the more recently formed (and more misleadingly named) North American Competitiveness council, and one is the sixth richest man in Canada. Building a stronger economically and social Canada is what they claim as their mandate, and I admit that it's a noble goal in theory.If of course, you buy into the idea that economic prosperity goes hand in hand with social progress.
So what happens when they decide to join forces, and instead of a handful of people controlling a few million or billion dollars, they form a Council with it's members profits exceeding 750 billion dollars a year?
Voila! The Security and Prosperity Partership is a corporation's wet dream. They couldn't have asked for more if they had designed it themselves.
Look behind the scenes, and you'll see that's exactly what they did.
The member corporations have been lobbying successfully for years to bring the SPP to life. It puts us on the fast track to North American "harmonization". That's corporate speak for ensuring our regulations are in synch with those of the US and Mexico.
Regulations have long been the bane of industry. They are often cited as a hindrance to investment and growth. Words like "costly, unnecessary and overly complex" are used to descrive the CCCE's feelings about them.
On their website, the CCCE praises the results of NAFTA, claiming that it has resuted in increased investment, employment and incomes.
Instead, the reality is that we are losing jobs to cheap labour overseas, and the NAFTA tribunal has proved worthless in settling trade disputes between our country and the US.
This doesn't have to happen.
Don't be afraid of the corporations. We gave them the power, we can take it away. The first step is believing that it's possible.
Who's with me?
www.vivelecanada.ca/article....072003920
Who really runs this country?
Contributed by: Anonymous
Do you ever wonder who is really calling the shots? Who is shaping our public policy? Who is pushing the integration of North America? Who wants to harmonize our regulations, lifestyles and consumer habits with those of the US?
If they had to guess, most people would probably identify Big Business as being behind it. But what is "big business" in Canada exactly? Who are the key players, the untouchable CEOs.
They wield more power than our politicians, yet without the mandate of the people.
Don't forget that they are people just like you and I.
Not exactly - they are far richer than the average Canadian, much more intelligent (if intelligence is measured by the number of letters following your name), and they have a much smaller social conscience, if one at all. They focus on short term profits, not long term environmental and social costs.
In the past, our government was able to exercise some type of control over the actions of corporations. We were bestowing a privilege upon them, and although we allowed them to pursue their capitalist goals we put regulations and policy in place so that the balance of power was tipped, be it ever so slightly, in favour of elected politicians over rich CEOs.
That has all changed.
The corporations have gotten smarter. They realized that they have strength in numbers. They formed the Canadian Council of Chief Executives in 2005. Two of the members now sit on the more recently formed (and more misleadingly named) North American Competitiveness council, and one is the sixth richest man in Canada. Building a stronger economically and social Canada is what they claim as their mandate, and I admit that it's a noble goal in theory.If of course, you buy into the idea that economic prosperity goes hand in hand with social progress.
So what happens when they decide to join forces, and instead of a handful of people controlling a few million or billion dollars, they form a Council with it's members profits exceeding 750 billion dollars a year?
Voila! The Security and Prosperity Partership is a corporation's wet dream. They couldn't have asked for more if they had designed it themselves.
Look behind the scenes, and you'll see that's exactly what they did.
The member corporations have been lobbying successfully for years to bring the SPP to life. It puts us on the fast track to North American "harmonization". That's corporate speak for ensuring our regulations are in synch with those of the US and Mexico.
Regulations have long been the bane of industry. They are often cited as a hindrance to investment and growth. Words like "costly, unnecessary and overly complex" are used to descrive the CCCE's feelings about them.
On their website, the CCCE praises the results of NAFTA, claiming that it has resuted in increased investment, employment and incomes.
Instead, the reality is that we are losing jobs to cheap labour overseas, and the NAFTA tribunal has proved worthless in settling trade disputes between our country and the US.
This doesn't have to happen.
Don't be afraid of the corporations. We gave them the power, we can take it away. The first step is believing that it's possible.
Who's with me?
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Canada
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