I spy, you spy. . . In the world of big mining and big oil companies, it would seem that everybody spies.
Corporations and corporate power
Several years ago, an Ipsos Global Public Affairs poll disclosed that a large majority of the world's "most informed, engaged and connected" citizens believe corporations are far too powerful and that their activities should be more effectively regulated.
Workers in Canada and around the world have been under assault for decades, but most of our recent tactics to stop the bleeding have been ineffective. If we don't soon get a lot more of our boots on the pavement, our labour movement density will continue to decline to the level of impotence. Just look at the United States. Union density does not have to be zero for workers there to consistently lose against employers and anti-worker legislators. Density just has to be low enough to discourage a meaningful push-back.
Here are two examples of just how bad it's getting in Canada.
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul," Nelson Mandela says, "than the way in which it treats its children."
Who would disagree? Yet today children may be assaulted, diseased, or killed by pervasive corporate drugs, junk foods and beverages, perverted by mindless violence in multiple modes, deployed as dead-end labour with no benefits, and then dumped into a corporate future of debt enslavement and meaningless work.
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco. Vintage Canada 2013, trade paperback, 302 pages, $19.95.
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One of our most solidly entrenched assumptions, going back even to childhood, is that when we deposit our money in a bank, it is safe and available for our use at any time. So, back in March when we learned that the European financial powers-that-be were arranging to rescue the troubled banks of Cyprus by appropriating the money entrusted to them by depositors, we were shocked.
The recent decision by the European Union (EU) to disregard Canadian government pressure and forge ahead with regulations that recognise the higher green-house-gas intensity of fuel produced from tar sands and oil shale is encouraging. The Canadian government has lobbied furiously against Article 7a of the European Fuel Quality Directive and is even threatening to challenge the measure under international trade rules.
In this collection, committed public interest advocates and academics present primers on provocative digital policy issues: broadband access, copyright, net neutrality, privacy, and security, along with a consideration of structures of participation in policy-making and communication rights.
Contributors to The Internet Tree argue for a digital economy strategy that casts a winning vote for openness, broadband as an essential service, and community engagement and inclusion.
Getting politicians to bend policy to your company’s will is a fine art. It requires a combination of charm, dogged persistence, threats – and bushels of cash. But corporate lobbyists know just which buttons to press in order to persuade politicians to neglect human rights, public health, and the environment -- and put business interests first. Much as they shrink from the limelight, we think they deserve exposure. So here’s why we think the following 10 lobby groups have earned their place in the Hall of Shame.
1. Big Oil
The Roil report on the 18-month strike at Voisey’s Bay nickel mine in northern Labrador is an eye-opening case study in 21st century globalization, and has the potential to be a game-changer. It is the final output of an industrial inquiry commission appointed in October 2010 by Newfoundland and Labrador’s now now-ex-Premier, Danny Williams.