Transnational Corporations Influence In Canadian Politics
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In 1974, 150 chief executives came together to form a think-tank group known as Business Council for National Issues (BCNI.) These 150 executives of transnational corporations have an estimated $3.5 trillion in assets and over $800 billion in revenue per fiscal year. The so-called BCNI (later named Council of Chief Executives) started to use this money and power to influence Canadian politics. Since the formation of the BCNI (in 1974) the income and inequality between the rich and the poor has continued to rise (Langille, 308). In fact, the article written by David Langille states " income of the top 10 percent of families was 31 times higher than that of the bottom 10 percent in 1976—and it was 82 times higher by 2004 (Langille, 312)." The BCNI agenda focuses on fighting inflation and cutting public spending. However, their (BCNI) main objective is to use their influence and power to…show more content… The influence of money (from the corporations) have driven the political agendas of politicians. With the backing of huge donations from the corporations, the politicians are able to run strong and influential campaigns during the election cycle(s). A perfect example of this is Paul Martin, the winner of the 2004 election, who received nine million dollars of funding from the corporations to help him win the election (Langellie, 311). In return, the politicians (like Martin) make sure to create policies that favour the corporate giants. Consequently, the general labour workers suffer, as they have to work harder and for longer hours without an increase in pay, making it hard to put food on the table. The influence of corporations over the politician has led to a continuous rise in income and inequality, and if this continues, Canada will be headed towards a depression like the