-Caveat Lector- Corporate take over in Canada. The decline of a civilized society. - J2 THE CORPORATE STRATEGY: By Ed Finn A coup d'etat, especially a non-violent one, can't succeed without a shrewd, careful, long-term strategy. The takeover of Canada by its big business executives could not have been achieved if they had not planned it so brilliantly. Even a shade less forethought, less daring, less patience, less attention to detail could have aborted their mission before it was accomplished. Before discussing the various stages and elements of their grand design, let's concede that Canada's top CEOs had a lot of help from the new computer technologies and the globalization of business and finance they helped unleash. To some extent, these developments alone would have boosted corporate power considerably. But to seize absolute power, an elaborate takeover plan was still required. Conceived in the mid-1970s by corporate leaders chafing under political, regulatory, jurisdictional and labour constraints, it aimed to bring Canada under corporate rule within the next two decades. This had to be done quietly, stealthily, incrementally, to avert the mobilization of effective opposition. It had to be given the appearance of a natural evolution, driven by impersonal and inexorable global forces. The first and most important step, then, was to influence public opinion. The CEOs knew from their product marketing campaigns that people's preferences could be shaped by slick advertising. They knew that people's thinking about economic and social issues could be similarly manipulated by the same techniques. Repeated and heard often enough, the biggest lies become unquestioned beliefs. Here, then, in rough chronological order, are the steps and stages that comprised the corporate strategy. 1. Get organized. To coordinate the various elements of their plan, the CEOs of the 160 largest corporations set up and generously funded the Business Council on National Issues. The BCNI was to be the "quarterback" in planning and executing their long-term offensive. 2. Set up or co-opt conservative think-tanks. The corporate agenda had to be given academic credibility. This became the primary role of the Fraser and C.D. Howe Institutes, whose officers and minions quickly became adept at giving economic statistics the required right-wing spin. 3. Develop and cultivate articulate spokespeople. BCNI president Tom d'Aquino adroitly fills this role, supported by such high-profile media "neo-cons" as Andrew Coyne, David Frum, Terence Corcoran, Peter Cook, Diane Francis, Barbara Amiel and Michael Coren, academics such as John Crispo, Michael Bliss and William Watson, and of course the ubiquitous Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute. 4. Create and control the terminology. The terms coined by the neo-cons--e.g., "big government," "the nanny state," "the debt/deficit crisis," "welfare cheats," "special interest groups," "globalization," "competitiveness," "economic restructuring," "downsizing," etc.--have come to dominate public discourse, forcing those on the left to debate key issues in the language of the right. 5. Control the media. This was easy. Most newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV stations, after all, are owned by BCNI members. Three newspaper moguls--Conrad Black, Ken Thomson and Paul Desmarais--now own or control 72 of Canada's 110 dailies. The same concentration of corporate power prevails in the broadcast media (except for the CBC), and in magazines. Little wonder that news and views that support the corporate agenda flow easily through the media, while the voices of dissent get scant space or time, and are mostly confined to publications (such as The Monitor) that reach relatively few people. 6. Control or coerce all political parties. This was not so difficult, either. The Liberal, Tory and Reform parties, being mainly run by and for the corporations anyway, proved willing- -even eager--to help advance the corporate agenda. Business chiefs such as Brian Mulroney, Michael Wilson, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin took sabbaticals from their executive suites to assume political leadership on behalf of the BCNI. The NDP, when it came to power in a province, was either duped and converted to neoconservatism by the right-wing propaganda blitz, or it was frightened into compliance by the threat of a massive business exodus and/or an engineered financial crisis. Thus the CEOs could be confident that their agenda would continue to be implemented politically, no matter which party was favoured by the voters. 7. Achieve maximum corporate mobility. This was done mainly by having their political lackeys negotiate first the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and then the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Promoted as free trade deals, their chief purpose was to enable the corporations to go anywhere in the world to exploit the cheapest labour and lowest taxes, to "shed" Canadian workers, and even to relocate their plants abroad and still send their goods back to Canada duty-free. Of course the development of high-tech communications technology also gave them world-wide financial mobility. 8. Escape from legal restrictions. Regulations that forced the corporations to abide by certain minimal standards--product quality, health and safety, pollution, service to the public, consumer protection, and so on--were incompatible with the goal of total corporate freedom. They had to be eliminated, or at least reduced to token levels. So, one by one, nearly all the major industries have been deregulated. The corporations have been set free to "regulate" themselves, as if "good corporate citizenship" in the 1990s had not become the most ironic of oxymorons. 9. Dismantle the public sector. By creating and then demonizing "the debt/deficit crisis," the CEOs and their tame politicians and P.R. experts gave themselves the all-purpose excuse to slash government spending on social programs. Over the past 10 years they have rampaged through the public sector, privatizing services, getting rid of those they can't privatize, laying off public employees, and subjecting health care, education and social assistance to the death of a thousand cuts. Private sector rule means public sector subjugation. 10. Disarm and weaken the opposition. The right-wing propagandists have done a good job of discrediting and even ridiculing any person or organization daring to oppose the corporate agenda. They are dismissed as cranks or troublemakers, as special interest groups, as welfare state parasites, as Luddites foolishly trying to keep the economy from growing. To make sure they don't seriously threaten corporate rule, unemployment is kept very high and unemployment insurance and welfare payments very low. If the dissidents' NGOs are dependent on government funding, that funding is cut or completely withdrawn. 11. Curb the rights and effectiveness of organized labour. One of the few corporate objectives that have so far been stymied in Canada has been the enfeeblement of the labour movement. Granted, union strength has been sapped to some extent by the rising power of the corporations, by keeping a few million people jobless, and by having governments curb collective bargaining and freeze wages in the public sector. Still, union members refuse to abandon their unions, and in recent months have shown signs of renewed militancy. It can be only a matter of time, however, before the CEOs and their political sychophants resort to more brutal anti-labour tactics. The signs of that more aggressive treatment of unionized workers are already evident in Ontario, the province most rapidly evolving into a police state. 12. Exalt and protect the value of wealth. The underlying goal of the corporate agenda, the one that subsumes all others, is to protect the wealthy and make them wealthier. The normal workings of unfettered free enterprise have that effect, in any case, but other safeguards include keeping interest rates high and inflation low, imposing little or no tax on wealth, allowing it to be invested freely outside the country, giving the wealthy elevated social status and privilege, and of course providing them with riot squad protection from their resentful victims. 13. Preserve the illusion of democracy. This is quite a feat, considering how absolute corporate rule has become in this country; but so far the CEOs have managed to pull it off. They do it mainly by preserving the outward trappings of a democratic state. We still have several political parties, still have "free" elections, still have legislatures in session. Protesters are still free to demonstrate, free to lobby their MPs and MLAs, free to present briefs to parliamentary committees. They can even, occasionally, get their alternative views reported in the media. For most Canadians--even the dissidents themselves--the exercise of these traditional democratic "freedoms" is enough to maintain the illusion of a true democracy. In reality, they are no more substantive than a politician's promise, no more real than a TV soap opera. They work because most of us accept the illusion as reality. ************************* Author's note: I've developed most of the above themes in previous Monitor columns and in essays published elsewhere. They've all been brought together now in a single publication, "Under Corporate Rule," which is available from the CCPA (http://infoweb.magi.com/~ccpa/recentt.html). >From The CCPA Monitor (http://infoweb.magi.com/~ccpa/samplet.html) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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