Griff Morgan
It is with great sadness that I write that Griff Morgan, a dedicated activist and chair of the Guelph chapter of the Council of Canadians, passed away on May 5.

Griff was the best of a wonderful generation. He did not seek wealth or status; rather, he was a man who valued honesty, community, courtesy, compassion and public service. He was funny, faithful and wise. He loved his beautiful bride Violet King with all his heart – and rightly so, as Vi is a force of nature. Theirs is a love story with lessons for the world. Perhaps if everyone had a partner with their kind of integrity and grace, people would pause before being cruel, violent or even petty.

Griff looked at his country and saw what it could have been, what it might be still, if we who are left to mourn his passing refuse to drop his torch. On behalf of all the members of the Council from all over Canada, I send my love and deepest respect to Vi Morgan. We are with you as you say goodbye to this extraordinary man and will be with you as you continue his – and your – work on behalf of us all.

Wealth by Stealth
Harry Glasbeek, who is a Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar at York University’s Osgoode Law School, has written a formidable book on corporations – how they gained legal status and how they hold undue influence because of it. He dissects the complex legal apparatus that corporations have used to maintain the political and legal status they now enjoy in Canada and globally. Glasbeek provides detailed case studies of corporate influence in the political process and the way the legal system lets them off time and again. This book upset me, and I was already pretty angry about the powerful corporations that run so much of our world. As author Frank Pearce explains in his review, "Globalization has meant the universalization of the limited liability capitalist business corporation. Here, at last, is an accessible book written by a lawyer that shows the relationship between this legal form and the uses to which it is put." Thanks, Harry, for impeccable research and for sounding the alarm.

The Corporation
Every now and then, a small-budget, small-press film about a seemingly impenetrable subject comes from nowhere to catch fire in the public imagination.

The film, by filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and UBC law professor Joel Bakan (who has also written a forthcoming book on the same subject), is selling out to cheering audiences in theatres across Canada and is about to be released into major theatres in the U.S. Since its release, The Corporation is being hailed as a social force in its own right, a film that questions the very foundation of market capitalism: the faceless, unaccountable corporation.

The film traces the origin of the corporation, its inception in the industrial revolution and its remarkable rise in a century and a half to become the dominant force in the world today. (Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 53 are transnational corporations; that means that most countries have smaller incomes than companies like Wal-Mart.)

The Corporation is a moving, frightening, marvellous movie. Go see it and bring your children.
(Excerpted from Corporate Knights Magazine)

Bill Moore-Kilgannon and Marilyn Box
And finally, I want to say a special goodbye to Bill and Marilyn. Bill is now the Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta in Edmonton. We are grateful to all that Bill brought us as our Director of Campaigns and Communications. And a big thank you to Marilyn, who so ably filled the role of Director of Organizing while Victoria Gibb-Carsley was on maternity leave. Best wishes to both of you.

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

Printer-friendly version:
Download "Closing Notes" in PDF Format (71.8 KB)