Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Is Jason Kenney really disquieted about Power Corp's influence over Canadian policy?


The Western Standard March 25, 2005

"Jason Kenney, a Conservative MP, says the questions being raised about Power's possible connection to Oil-for-Food are worth asking. But he's quick to point out that if the Liberals guided the country's foreign policy based on their connections to Power, then we should be asking questions about the Canadian government, too. "I am not the least bit critical of the Desmarais family for being rational actors in a free marketplace and pursuing their advantage," says Kenney. "I am, however, somewhat disquieted by the degree to which Power Corp.'s corporate interest seems to influence Canadian foreign policy. Obviously, every company seeks to influence government policy–regulatory, taxation or otherwise–but Power Corp. seems to have a particularly unique influence over Canadian foreign policy."

Globe November 2, 2006:

"High-profile directors and CEOs, meanwhile, had approached Mr. Flaherty personally to express their concerns: Many felt they were being pressed into trusts because of their duty to maximize shareholder value, despite their misgivings about the structure. Paul Desmarais Jr., the well-connected chairman of Power Corp. of Canada, even railed against trusts in a conversation with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a trip to Mexico, and told him he should act quickly to stop the raft of conversions, according to sources."

Meanwhile Flaherty lied to Canadians about tax leakage to fulfill the wishes of "High-profile directors and CEOs" and folks like Paul Desmarais Jr. See: http://caiti-online-media.blogspot.com/2007/04/to-finance-minister-flaherty-your-tax.html

3 comments:

Dr Mike said...

Someone needs to ask Jason how the Desmarais family`s interference in the trust tax policy was beneficial to small investor here in Canada.

He seems to think this is only a "natural" occurrence & whatever happens , happens.

It`s just too bad Jason was not as concerned about PC`s influence of at home domestic tax policy as he is about the Power Corp influence over foreign policy where it has very little influence over the people of our own country.

Dr Mike Popovich

Bruce Benson said...

Nothing about Jason Kenny suprisses me any more. I almost felt sorry for the guy watching him being grilled at a town hall in Calgary by income trust investors. Notice I said almost!It's not surprising he dumped the Income Trust Investors for his buddies in the Desmarais family. Lets not forget the influence of others like Manulife.

Anonymous said...

Power Corp is just that, a big government lobby group, who should be split up into pieces, then scooped up by private equity and be done with it !

Thats what they did to the trust sector !

Inside Job of the 1st kind !!

JIC