Just recently a new force in world politics, the multinational
corporation, has become the focus of widespread interest and concern.
Many students of the development and spread of these firms emphasize their
actual and potential contribution toward global economic integration.
Contingent upon this process, several observers have optimistically
forecast the fundamental breakdown of the nation-state system and its
replacement by some form of more stable and peaceful world polity. The
Canadian case however, does not sustain this optimism.
Among all the nations Canada has been the most consistently
liberal host of these firms, providing particular attraction for expansionist
American corporations. As a consequence, the country has
experienced a new and profound dependence upon the American economy.
Directly resultant upon this experience has been the forfeiture of broad
areas of Canadian state sovereignty and national independence. But unlike
the prophecy, this sacrifice has not been part of a more universal
transfer of nation-state prerogatives to the claims of supranational
authority. Instead, the forfeiture has been unilateral and horizontals
from the Canadian state to the American state.
Clearly, American multinational corporations have been successful
promoters of continental economic integration. Ho other nation in the
developed world shares with Canada the same unique degree of economic
subordination. On the other hand, American multinational corporations
are demonstrably inadequate institutions for furthering the general
erosion of the nation-state system. They are themselves subordinate to
and dependent upon the U.S. state. This relationship is made most
explicit through American laws of extraterritoriality whereby the U.S.
government has reserved the right to dictate trade, anti-trust and
balance of payments policies to the foreign subsidiaries of American
firms. The Canadian government has become acutely aware of this relationship
on several occasions, most notably over the 'Time and Reader's Digest
Affair' and the 'American Guidelines Issue'. Of even graver import,
these occasions demonstrated the ease with which American economic controls
in one area could be converted into substantial political leverage
in entirely unrelated areas of Canadian policy formation.
In each instance where the U.S. government has employed its
authority over American multinational corporations to sway Canadian
government policy, the Canadian government has eventually acquiesced.
Ironically, Canadian government elites have proven themselves unwilling
to respond to this challenge at its source. Instead of attempting to
regulate or discourage American multinational corporations in Canada,
they have co-operated actively in their promotion.
To understand the paradoxical behavior of Canadian governments
in aiding the demise of their own powers and the Canadian state, the
career patterns of certain influential political and bureaucratic elites
were investigated. This research uncovered the existence of a longstanding
hybrid elite composed of Canadian governmental decision-makers
who have been strongly identified with corporations committed to a
continental economy. The economic interests which, inhere to these corporate
government linkages have been complemented and given normative justification
by a business ethos prevalent in Canadian society. Together they provide
a motivating rationale for Canadian government elites in co-operating
with, multinational corporations and, in effect, in undermining the sovereignty
and independence of the Canadian nation-state. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41928 |
| Date | January 1971 |
| Creators | Wells, Don |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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