PAUL DESMARAIS AND CANADIAN CULTURE
Christopher Richard Wade Dettling (2017)
The influence of the Power Corporation on Canadian federal and provincial politics is undeniable. US Ambassador David Jacobson¹
The ultimate secret of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais is its concentration of media power, which comes from its control of Crown Lands, namely, the forest industry, as well as the sweet energy deals from its control of the Hydro–Québec: From the Chrétien family pulp and paper cartels comes the cheap newspaper that feeds the media empire. The linchpin of the “System D” is therefore French chauvinism, which ensures that what the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais names “Canadian Culture” first and foremost serves them as their propaganda weapon, as with Cité Libre:
“The spirit of Emmanuel Mounier will fill all the pages of Cité Libre … Long live the French Republic!”²
The Machiavellism, the modern European unreason of Gaullist Bonapartism (Eurocentrisme as the raciological political economy of the master race), is the political and economic fountainhead of Canadian Culture under the Québec Regime in Ottawa and empire of Paul Desmarais 1968–2006.³
As we shall see, Canadian Culture as French chauvinism, at least for the very most part, means so–called “Québécois culture,” which is ultimately another name for Canadian Culture as the intellectual justification of politique fonctionnelle as Québécocentrisme: The main political and economic foundation of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais 1968–2006, — according to the rational conceptualization of Canada in the world of today, which conceives of the Québécocracy as a vanishing phase of modern European world history.
In genuinely Hegelian fashion, this threefold world historical prism, the light of which we direct upon Canadian culture, is composed of (1) the Empire of Paul Desmarais, (2) the Québec Regime in Ottawa, and (3) the Québec Inc. In substance this triadic distinction constitutes the world historical notion of the Canadian struggle between superior and inferior ruling classes in the collapse of modernity and rise of the Global world: This is also therefore the selfsame substance of the Canadian press in the last half of the twentieth century.
Let us clarify our meaning straightaway. Under the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais, the modern conception of Canada is found in Canadian culture as French chauvinism: “French chauvinists in Canada harbor the delusion that they alone should wield all the power, and live as in France or as in French North America, because (as they hold) the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right is far better than the conception of right found in the Magna Carta and the Constitution of the United States of America, or that both conceptions of right are roughly the very same thing.”⁴ The strife between monarchism and republicanism, in the disintegration of the British Empire, in the power struggles between France and Germany in the 20th century, prove that these contradictory conceptions of right are not really the same thing at all, but together they contain the political and economic germs of a higher conception of freedom. At least this is the verdict of exact historiography and modern European world history: Modern right is not Global freedom.
French chauvinism, at least in the writings of the Québec Regimers (Cité Libre, La Presse, and so forth) is another name for modern European political and economic irrationalism in Canada. French chauvinism also has a history in the Communauté and Francophonie, especially in Europe but also in Africa: Its last political and economic form was forged by Charles DeGaulle, before it was submerged under the floodtide of Americanism in world history. In the world of today, French chauvinism is therefore nothing but an inert idea.
Jean Chrétien: “I opposed Québec nationalism because I thought separation would destroy the French fact in North America, not build it up.”⁵ Most Canadians like myself, and the present generation, oppose “Québec nationalism” because the destruction of Canada will plunge this peaceful and industrious land into a firestorm of unreason, which will fill the gutters of our streets with rivers of blood, and condemn a generation of Canadian young people to a life of violence and misery: Unlike Jean Chrétien’s generation, therefore, Canadians really do not care very much about France and its political and economic status in the New World. That is why Canadians support the free–trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. At one time, however, Jean Chrétien was such a French chauvinist that he named his only daughter after the modern republic of France.
Of course, Jean Chrétien betrays himself (and his followers) in the first edition of Straight from the Heart, where he confesses that after twenty years in Ottawa what he really wants is “to be where the cash is.”⁶ Once the French chauvinists of the Québec Regime had looted the last remnants of the British Empire in Canada, they discovered Uncle Sam in the bowels of the treasure chest, upon whom their French chauvinism does not work. We understand, therefore, that Chrétien is neither interested in “the French fact in North America,” nor does he care much about France and its political and economic ambitions in the New World: What Jean Chrétien really wants is the political and economic support of the French chauvinists in Canada and Europe, but especially in Québec and also in Ontario, Manitoba, and the Maritimes, in order to elevate himself and his family to the heights of power:
“My family has always been rouge [Red], Liberal in the free–thinking, anti–clerical, anti–establishment tradition of the nineteenth century … I had become a lawyer in order to become a politician … I was quite left wing when I began in politics. I wasn’t obsessed with making money … My pitch has always been to the working class because the Liberal Party in my riding is supported by the unions and the workers. We were the party that fought Duplessis, and I was an authentic descendant of those gutsy rouges who had fought against the bishops … Politics is a game of friends.”⁷
Again, what Jean Chrétien really wants is the political and economic support of the French chauvinists in Canada and Europe, but especially in Québec and also in Ontario, Manitoba, and the Maritimes, in order to elevate himself and his family to the heights of power: Unless francophone Canada is divided into Québec federalist and anti-federalist camps, this will not happen:
“The truth is that without Jean Chrétien’s low and despicable actions, on the 23rd of June, Québec would have returned into the arms of the great Canadian family. Today, we Québeckers are profoundly shocked and humiliated: Jean Chrétien stabbed Canada in the back.”⁸
French chauvinists in Canada are therefore really francophone Canadians who have succumbed to the morbid spell of Cité Libre and other such scatology as La Presse. The abstraction of French Canada has been very useful in making Pierre Beaudoin, Paul Desmarais and Lino Saputo into very rich men, indeed, not to mention the families of Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin. But today, thanks to their delusions of the “French Fact in North America,” some four million Canadians in Québec live in poverty, while some two million of them barely manage to survive.⁹
As Chrétien admitted in 1986, the fabulous wealth of his family comes from his political work: “I owe to Canada all the privileges I have received.”¹⁰ And his family has certainly received many privileges over the decades from federal and provincial governments under the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais: In 1963 Jean Chrétien went to Ottawa with empty pockets, his father used to work in the lumber yards of Shawinigan, but when Chrétien retired from politics after many years his family had amassed a fortune worth more than $4–Billion dollars, and an international financial and media empire some say is worth more than $100 Billion. Today, the family of Jean Chrétien is something like the 4th richest in Canada, and the richest in Québec according to Forbes Magazine.¹¹
According to the biography, Jean Chrétien and Paul Desmarais first “met in the late 1960’s through a mutual acquaintance, the lawyer Pierre Genest.”¹² Indeed, Jean Chrétien always maintained “cozy connections with the Power Corporation” over the decades.¹³ The Power Corporation was even the backer of Chrétien’s first leadership campaign against John Turner.¹⁴ Chrétien used to handle the “major negotiations” for the Desmarais family because of “his tight personal and professional relations with the Power Corporation.”¹⁵ Chrétien probably first met Paul Desmarais through Paul Martin Senior, whom Chrétien ardently supported for the party leadership very early in his budding career back in 1958.¹⁶ Chrétien used to visit the family home of Paul Martin Senior in Windsor.¹⁷ Later on in his career Chrétien and Martin’s son, Paul Martin Junior, used to get together and hold meetings in the offices of the Power Corporation “during the 1970s and 1980s.”¹⁸
In the history of Canada since Confederation, never were our rulers and their families so enriched, as under the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais, when Canada was ruled for nearly a half century by Québec Regimers, except for one year under Joe Clark, Kim Campbell and John Turner. In other words, Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin were greatly enriched by the many political and economic divisions they created and promoted, but these same divisions have greatly retarded finance, commerce and industry in Canada over the years.
As with the modern Europeans, the world historical contagion of subjectivism, relativism and irrationalism in the realm of politics and economics is deeply rooted among French Canadians like Pierre–Basile Mignault: “Nations are individuals: I will always maintain this analogy.”¹⁹ From whence comes this disease of modern unreason in contemporary world history? “All things that exist being particulars … every man’s reasoning and knowledge is only about the ideas existing in his own mind.”²⁰ Thus, the world does not exist according to John Locke, while the universe is appearance and delusion. This, of course, is the opposite of the teaching of Cartesius.²¹
The sophistical distemper of the philosophes, which brought to prominence the modern unreason of Kant, Hume, Leibniz and Locke, was unleashed upon European politics and economics by the French Revolution: “The statesmen of the French Revolution roused their fellow countrymen to the most astounding military efforts by announcing that France would compel all other nations to be free in the same sense as herself. Under Napoleon I, and more obscurely under his nephew, Napoleon III, France aspired to impose her suzerainty by force of arms upon the whole of Western Europe.”²² “Diderot, Rousseau, and Voltaire, greatly influenced the leaders of the French Revolution.”²³
Francophone Canadians, like other inhabitants of the New World, were not immune to the contagion of modern European raison d’État: “France has the greatest laws and jurisprudence in the world … the Napoleonic Code is actually the most beautiful and grandiose achievement of the almighty Napoleon Bonaparte.”²⁴ Shall we forget to mention the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais? Not at all, dear reader. Paul Desmarais was an “expert on Napoleon Bonaparte,” and was in “many ways himself a driven man” like the Emperor of France: As the warlord Napoleon, Desmarais always sought “new ways to expand his power.”²⁵
Of course the historiasters like John English will strongly disagree with the above passages: He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Kitchener 1993–1997, and has done very well for himself and his family under the Québec Regime in Ottawa. His book, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1968–2000, the index of which contains no entry on the Power Corporation, and only one entry on Paul Desmarais Senior, therefore completely ignores and neglects the very considerable political and economic connexions between Pierre Trudeau, Paul Desmarais, and the Power Corporation:
“Claude Frenette, the right hand man of Paul Desmarais … was elected as president of the Québec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada in virtue of the upcoming leadership race: Frenette and Pierre Trudeau elaborated a scheme at the Power Corporation whereby the latter would become the new leader of the Liberal Party and then the Prime Minister of Canada.”²⁶
Obviously, therefore, we are dealing here with a work of hagiography and not with exact historiography. Let us recall these words: “In our relations with the state, we are fairly immoral: We corrupt civil servants, we use blackmail on Members of Parliament, we put pressure on the courts, we defraud the treasury, we obligingly look the other way when it concerns our interests.”²⁷ These are the utterances of the Pierre Trudeau who once served as vice–president, then director, and finally president of the Rassemblement pour l’indépendence nationale (Assembly for National Independence), the French Canadian supporters of the General DeGaulle and his Vive le Québec Libre speech. We should therefore call John English’s book a work of pure Québec Regime propaganda.²⁸ Of course the book publishers are more than happy to accommodate the extremely corrupt politicians in their ideological zealotry, since in exchange they receive very cheap, taxpayer subsidized paper from Crown Lands controlled by the oligarchs of the Québec Regime.
The list of Québec Regime sycophants is therefore very considerable. We might mention in passing Charles Taylor and his considerable school, as well as Monique Nemni, Ramsay Cook, and Radwanski, but there are legions of mercenary idéologues in the media cartels of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais. Is it ever otherwise with the political and economic corruption of inferior ruling classes? “Senior members of the major political parties are integrated into an intricate corporate web dominated by Paul Desmarais, owner of Power Corporation.”²⁹
What exactly is the relationship between Paul Desmarais and the Canadian Press? The connexion is named Power Corporation:
“Through Gesca Ltee, Desmarais controls several daily newspapers, including La Presse, Montréal’s prestigious broadsheet, and Québec City’s Le Soleil … Power Corporation, through its Square Victoria Communications Group subsidiary, and together with the corporate parent companies of the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail newspapers owns The Canadian Press.”³⁰
Robin Philpot the Québec journalist and historian tells the story of how, “after Paul Desmarais’ takeover of Power Corporation and the Montreal newspaper La Presse, the notion of the Empire of Desmarais first appeared, when the young Liberal deputy Yves Michaud sounded the alarm at the Québec National Assembly in 1968.”³¹
We should cite the young deputy’s prescient words: “If this problem is not corrected by a very serious inquiry on the part of elected officials, in accordance with the laws of our Assembly, the Desmarais oligarchy will threaten the power of our Parliament: Does the dangerous nature of this situation require even further proof? Will not this oligarchy eventually usurp the sovereign will of our representatives, and even our Prime Minister? … At this very moment, the Gelco–Trans–Canada Group [controlled by Paul Desmarais] is seeking to further acquire Le Soleil Newspaper, the readership of which is more than 175,000 people, as well as the daily newspaper Le Droit in Ottawa, which has a readership of some 45,000 people.”³²
Owning newspapers and a media empire is no crime in the world of rational political economy, but the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais is no rational political and economic order in the world of today:
“The Liberal government showed favoritism to Desmarais’s Power Corporation in April 1995, when the federal cabinet ordered the CRTC to allow Power’s direct–to–home DirectTV channel to apply for a broadcasting license.”³³
Certainly, in the eyes of some Canadians, especially in Western Canada, “the Liberal government showed favoritism to Desmarais’s Power Corporation,” because the “federal cabinet ordered the CRTC to allow Power’s direct–to–home DirectTV channel to apply for a broadcasting license.”
From whence comes this political and economic corruption? Peter Charles Newman writes that “no businessman in Canadian history has ever had more intimate and more extended influence with Canadian prime ministers than Desmarais.”³⁴ In other words, Paul Desmarais is the puppet master behind the Québec Regime in Ottawa 1968–2006, when Canada was ruled for nearly a half–century by Québec Regimers, except for one year under Joe Clark, Kim Campbell and John Turner: “Desmarais has been called the most powerful businessman in Canada, gaining the ear of Pierre Trudeau, Paul Martin, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien.”³⁵
Thus, the substance of these reports is that the very “senior members of the major political parties are integrated into an intricate corporate web dominated by Paul Desmarais, owner of Power Corporation.” Let us advance a step further: “The making and breaking of governments in Québec and Canada is the prerogative of Paul Desmarais and Power Corporation: This has been going on for some 40 years.”³⁶
From out of the web of Paul Desmarais comes therefore the late 20th century world historical notion of the Québec Regime in Ottawa as the political and economic arm of the Québec Inc:
“The Power Corporation of Canada has seventeen board members, namely, Pierre Beaudoin, Laurent Dassault, André Desmarais, Paul Desmarais, Paul Desmarais Junior, Paul Fribourg (US Government), Anthony R.M. Graham (See: William Carvel Graham), Robert Gratton (Government of Canada), the very honorable Donald Frank Mazankowski (Government of Canada), Jerry Edgar Allan Nickerson, James R. Nininger (Revenue Canada), Robert Jeffrey Orr (See: Robert Orr, Government of Canada), Robert Parizeau (Quebec Government), Michel Plessis–Bélair (Quebec Government), John A. Rae (the brother of Bob Rae the Premier of Ontario, Government of Ontario and Government of Canada), Amaury–Daniel de Sèze (French Government) and Emöke Jolan Erzsebet Szathmáry (Government of Canada) … Pierre Beaudoin is also the premier vice–president and board member of the Bombardier Corporation. In effect, there exists direct relations between all the board members of the Power Corporation, as well as with Pierre Beaudoin, and all the board members of the Bombardier Corporation: Laurent Beaudoin, André Berard, J.R. André Bombardier, Janine Bombardier, L. Denis Desautels (Government of Canada), Jean–Louis Fontaine, Jane F. Garvey (Federal Aviation Administration, Obama Administration), Daniel Johnson [the younger], Jean C. Monty (Nortel, Bell, Alcatel–Lucent), André Navarri (Association des industries ferroviaires européennes), Carlos Eduardo Represas (Bombardier Mexico, Latin American Business Council), Jean–Pierre Rosso (US Government), Federico Sada González (Mexican Government, ITESM), Heinrich Weiss (German Government) … As with Paul Desmarais Senior, Laurent Beaudoin is one of the most renowned businessmen in all of Québec: Not only is he famous as the leader of one of the most well–known companies in Québec, he was also deeply involved in politics and the political intrigues of the past thirty years.”³⁷
From out of the web of Paul Desmarais comes therefore, in the collapse of modernity and rise of Globalism in twentieth century world history, the notion of the Québec Regime in Ottawa as the political and economic arm of the Québec Inc, as the rational conceptualization of the financial, commercial and industrial connexions between the board members of the Power Corporation, as well as with Pierre Beaudoin, and all the board members of the Bombardier Corporation: As with Paul Desmarais Senior, Laurent Beaudoin is one of the most renowned businessmen in all of Québec. Not only is Laurent Beaudoin famous as the leader of one of the most well–known companies in Québec, he was also deeply involved in politics and the political intrigues of the past thirty years.
Considering the many $Billions in healthcare transfers over the years, we must not forget to mention other essential political and economic spheres of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais as the political and economic arm of the Québec Inc:
“Hélène Desmarais, a fierce opponent of plans to locate the University of Montréal Hospital Complex (CHUM/HUMC) in downtown Montréal during the controversial debates of 2004–2005, will soon join the Regional Healthcare Administrative Board, according to La Presse. Last June, Hélène Desmarais was nominated as president of the consultation committee on ‘how to facilitate the integration of the CHUM/HUMC into the diverse spheres of society.’ Hélène Desmarais is also the president of the board of directors of the Montréal Economic Institute, a right–wing think–tank which promotes the increased privatization of the Québec Public Healthcare System. Hélène Desmarais also sits on the consultative commission of the medical faculty of the University of Montréal. Hélène Desmarais is the wife of Paul Desmarais Jr., who runs the Power Corporation.”³⁸
What exactly is the web of Paul Desmarais?
“Power Corporation controls some of Canada’s biggest blue–chip companies, including the Investors Group, the country’s largest mutual fund dealer, and investment firm Mackenzie Financial. It owns insurers Great–West Lifeco, Canada Life and London Life. Power Corporation owns several Quebec newspapers, including La Presse. It also holds substantial positions in Chinese airlines and telecom firms and has large stakes in the world’s leading entertainment company, Bertelsmann, as well as a big piece of one of Europe’s largest oil producers. In 2003, Power Corporation reported annual revenues of $16 billion.”³⁹
From out of the modern European struggle between republicanism and monarchism, in the collapse of modernity and rise of Globalism in twentieth century world history, in the French chauvinist inspired nationalization of electrical energy and the fire–sale of vast public domains of Crown Lands, Paul Desmarais was first greatly enriched:
“[Power Corporation] received huge subsidies over the years from the Government of Québec … Consolidated–Bathurst, the crown jewel of the Québec pulp and paper industry, under the control of Paul Desmarais, had benefited from very generous subsidies over the decades from the taxpayers of Québec.”⁴⁰
Paul Desmarais was therefore greatly enriched in the political and economic destruction of the Union nationale and the physical elimination of Duplessis, Sauvé and Johnson, who were powerless to resist the onslaught against them, as the influence of the British Empire waned in Canada and the world. Therefore we will always find Hydro–Québec and White Gold at the very center of the political and economic notion of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and the Empire of Paul Desmarais, especially in 20th century world history, as the political and economic arm of the Québec Inc:
“Michel Plessis–Bélair, the vice–president of the board of directors of Power Corporation, has also sat on the board of directors of Hydro–Québec.”⁴¹
Let us not forget in passing the connexion between Paul Desmarais and the Quebec Pension Plan (along with the Canada Pension Plan and the Business Development Bank of Canada), which has over the years invested very considerable sums of public money in his business ventures:
“Paul Desmarais is not a builder, he is but an animal and rapist, a wolf in sheep’s clothing: Over the years Desmarais has learned that it is much easier to hoodwink the Good Shepherd, and to thereby prey upon the flock, rather than struggle constantly against the powers that be … The whole of Québec discovered the truly vile and depraved character of Paul Desmarais, when he and Michael Sabia, the president of the Québec Pension Plan, were seen together, as two love birds in a gilded cage, in that vast and luxurious palace of Sagard: At that instant the scales fell from our eyes, and we understood the nature of Desmarais’ diabolism, and we perceived how our National Assembly, the ministers of our parliament, our highest officials, and our institutions of government, had all become the puppets of Paul Desmarais.”⁴²
From whence exactly springs the vast financial, commercial and industrial web of Paul Desmarais?
“Jean–Louis Lévesque, the Montréal financier from far–away Gaspé, ‘knew first–hand the difficulties that awaited a French Canadian in business, and therefore he took the young Paul Desmarais under his wing, and led him into the realm of French Canadian high finance … the Lévesque which most Canadians have heard about is the great orator, René, the Minister of Natural Resources of the Province of Québec. Jean–Louis Lévesque is his wealthy distant cousin, who owns the largest financial empire in Québec.”⁴³
Now we know the germs of the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right of the Québec Regime in Ottawa are found in the Canadian Press and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,⁴⁴ as the modern (outdated) notion of Canadian culture, illuminated under the threefold prism of the Empire of Paul Desmarais in the disintegration of modernity and rise of world civilization as the self–determining and self–comprehending political and economic conception of Global freedom in 20th century world history …
Now the dream of Napoléon and the revolutionaries fades away as flesh and blood disappears, for Bonapartism is after all only a phantasm in the world of today, the political and economic nightmare of the twentieth century: The true and real substance of world history remains and is named Americanism.⁴⁵
ENDNOTES
1. “L’ambassadeur des États–Unis au Canada, David Jacobson, estime que ‘l’influence sur le milieu fédéral et provincial de cette société [Power Corporation] est indéniable’ … L’ambassadeur Jacobson y fait spécifiquement référence à l’influence de Power Corporation sur les politiques énergétiques des gouvernements. Il s’interroge sur les pressions qu’auraient pu exercer les dirigeants de Power Corporation sur le premier ministre Jean Charest lors de la conférence sur les changements climatiques de Copenhague, en décembre 2009.” Kathleen Lévesque, “Un appui concret au PLQ: Depuis 1998, les Desmarais ont versé plus de $300 000 au parti de Jean Charest,” Le Devoir, 19 mai 2011.
2. Anonymous [Pierre Trudeau?] and Guy Cormier, “Faites vos jeux” et “Fleches de tout bois,” Cité Libre, 1.1(Juin, 1950), 37–45: “[Emmanuel] Mounier restera present dans toute l’aventure que nous tentons aujourd’hui … Vive quand même la République!” See: “Our existence is always sinful, and it might almost be claimed that existence in this world is just as impossible as the act of pure good will is for Kant. We are sinful by the very fact that we exist.” Emmanuel Mounier, Existentialist Philosophies: An Introduction, London, 1948, 20. See also: “We ought not to forget how much personalism owes to Leibnitz and to Kant, or what the dialectic of personality owes to the whole reflective effort of idealist thought.” Emmanuel Mounier, Personalism, London, 1950, xvi.
3. See: “These principalities … are upheld by higher causes, which the human mind cannot attain to, I will abstain from speaking of them; for being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the work of a presumptuous and foolish man to discuss them … if one could change one’s nature with time and circumstances, fortune would never change … God will not do everything, in order not to deprive us of freewill.” Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, The Prince, Luigi Ricci, translator, Oxford, Humphrey Milford, 1921,
Higher causes, which the human mind cannot attain to, are exalted and maintained by God, the very highest power. Higher causation and rationality is the realm of the highest power, and is beyond the reach of humanity, civilization, and the rationality of political and economic order. What are the rational determinations of the highest power? We must abstain from speaking of them, for being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the work of a presumptuous and foolish man to discuss them: The highest power of Machiavellism is the Absolute of Kant and the modern irrationalists. The highest power governing human actions, the fountainhead of all justice according to the Machiavellians, the dispensers of modern freedom, is Unknowable: The fountainhead of the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right is modern unreason.
The “rationality governing human actions, the fountainhead of justice,” according to Machiavelli, his delusion of rationality and human reason, is modern unreason, the basis of the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right: Autocracy founded on popular consent, the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right, therefore comes from the modern sophistry of Kant, Hume, Leibniz and Locke and then ultimately from Machiavelli. Machiavellism, autocracy founded on popular consent, the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right, is modern unreason in the world historical arena of European politics and economics.
Autocracy founded on popular consent, the Napoléonic and French revolutionary conception of right, modern unreason in the world historical arena of European politics and economics in Canada, is Machiavellism, the basis of Wilfrid Laurier’s “Political Liberalism.”
4. Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, Jean Chrétien and French Chauvinism, 2017. Modern irrationalists who identify American political and economic rationality in the world of today with the Napoleonic and French revolutionary conception of right, in order to uphold and legitimize the backwards cartels, outdated monopolies and corrupt trusts of their masters, the inferior ruling classes of the earth, — they are easily overcome with the following question: Is the American Superpower really and truly a modern European republic?
In other words, Is modern European political and economic unreason the fountainhead of world civilization and the birth of Global rational political and economic order in universal history?
From out of the struggle between superior and inferior ruling classes in world history, comes the downfall of modernity and rise of world civilization, namely, the supremacy of Global rational political and economic order:
“Their deeds and destinies in their reciprocal relations to one another are the dialectic of the finitude [die erscheinende Dialektik der Endlichkeit] of these minds, and out of it arises the universal mind, the mind of the world, free from all restriction, producing itself as that which exercises its right — and its right is the highest right of all — over these finite minds in the ‘history of the world which is the world’s court of judgement’ … The concrete Ideas, the minds of the nations, have their truth and their destiny in the concrete Idea which is absolute universality, i.e., in the world mind. Around its throne they stand as the executors of its actualization and as signs and ornaments of its grandeur [Herrlichkeit]. As mind, it is nothing but its active movement towards absolute knowledge of itself and therefore towards freeing its consciousness from the form of natural immediacy and so coming to itself,” (Thomas Malcolm Knox, translator, “The Philosophy of Right,” Great Books of the Western World: Hegel, vol. 46, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel & Eduard Gans; Robert Maynard Hutchins, editor in chief, Chicago, 1960, §§340–352, 110–112).
This at least is the American idealistic teaching of Pure Hegelism and the rational political economy of Americanism in the world of today:
“What exactly the sophists mean by modern democracy and rational political and economic order (so–called liberalism, republicanism, nationalism, socialism and communism) is spelled out in the world of today as criticism, empiricism and phenomenalism in the backwards, outdated and corrupt political economy of modernity (in contradistinction to their pejorative usage of such terms as dogmatism, idealism and metaphysics). Their sophistical political economy is therefore culled from the modern subjectivism, relativism and irrationalism of Locke, Leibniz, Hume and Kant: This also involves the late mediaeval theological distinction between Catholicism and Protestantism in the political and economic clash between the old and new world historical forms of Christendom, — as the moment of the modern determination of the self-comprehending pure notion, namely, as Globalism …” (Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, Stronghold of Hegel: Modern Enemies of Plato and Hegel, San Francisco, California, The Medium Corporation, 2016–2017).
5. Jean Chrétien, Straight from the Heart, 1st edition, Toronto, 1986, 213.
6. Ibidem, 68.
7. Jean Chrétien, Straight from the Heart, 1st edition, Toronto, Key Porter Books Limited, 1985, 11–17–22–23.
8. Jean Lapierre in Hélène Buzzetti, “Ce Liberal fondateur du Bloc Québécois,” Le Devoir, 30 mars 2016: “Il ne fait aucun doute dans mon esprit que, sans vos [Jean Chrétien’s] basses et tortueuses manoeuvres, nous aurions le 23 juin proclamé le retour du Québec dans la grande famille canadienne. Aujourd’hui, comme tous les Québécois, je suis déçu, je me sens humilié et je sais que vous [Jean Chrétien] nous avez trahis.”
9. Half of the population of Québec is so poor they pay no federal income tax: “The number of taxpayers who have declared their fiscal situation is nearly 6.5 million Québéckers. Attention: Of these ‘taxpayers,’ only 4.1 million are actualy taxable. Many declare their fiscal situation but pay no tax … little more than 4 million Québéckers actually pay tax in Québec, about half of the population.” David Descôteaux, “Qui paye de l’impôt au Québec?” Le Journal de Montréal: Opinions, 24 avril 2017: “Le nombre de contribuables ayant produit une déclaration s’élève à près de 6,5 millions. Mais attention: Parmi ces ‘contribuables,’ seulement 4,1 millions sont en réalité imposables. Beaucoup produisent une déclaration, mais ne payent aucun impôt … un peu plus de 4 millions de particuliers paient de l’impôt au Québec, soit environ la moitié de la population.”
In Québec little more than 4 million Canadians actually pay any income tax, and therefore mutatis mutandis the same holds good at the federal level: Since little more than 4 million Canadians in Québec actually pay any income tax to the Government of Québec, a fortiori, little more than 4 million Canadians in Québec actually pay any federal income tax to Ottawa. In other words, nearly half the population of Québec is so poor that some 4 million Canadians in Québec pay no federal income tax. This profound financial, commercial and industrial retardation is the result of the political and economic irrationalism of the Québec Régime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais: The main culprits of this mortal corruption (la décadence) are the backwards cartels, outdated monopolies and corrupt trusts of Paul Desmarais, Laurent Beaudoin, Lino Saputo and Paul Martin Junior, as well as many other Québec Régimers.
See: “According to information from the Québec Government, 6.47 million taxpayers, otherwise 36%, earned less than $20,000 in 2013 while 14% earned between $20,000 and $29,999 … in the same year, 50% of the taxpayers in Québec earned less than $30,000 while 73% earned less than $50,000.”
Léo–Paul Lauzon, “La minorité de riches (5,6%) paie 39% des impôts: Faux,” Le Journal de Montréal: Blogues, 28 septembre 2016: “Selon les données du gouvernement du Québec, 6,47 millions de contribuables, soit 36%, ont gagné moins de 20 000$ en 2013 et 14% ont empoché entre 20 000$ et 29 999$ … en 2013, 50% des contribuables québécois ont gagné moins de 30 000$ et 73% moins de 50 000$.”
See finally: Michel Girard, “42% des Québécois se sont appauvris,” La Presse, 9 septembre 1997.
10. Chrétien, Ibidem, 214.
11.
12. Lawrence Martin, Chrétien: The Will to Win, vol. 1, Toronto, 1995, 326.
13. Ibidem, 323.
14. Ibidem, 332.
15. Ibidem, 369.
16. Jean Chrétien, My Years As Prime Minister, Toronto, 2008, 56. [2007] See Back–Cover: “[Jean Chrétien] is a genuinely good man.” Bill Clinton.
17. Ibidem.
18. Ibidem, 57.
19. “J’ai comparé les nations aux individus, je vais continuer à le faire.” Pierre-Basile Mignault, L’Administration de la justice sous la domination française: Conférence faite devant l’Union Catholique, le 9 février 1879, 119. See: “[Mignault] is now chiefly remembered for his monumental treatise Le droit civil canadien which is still cited as an authority in Quebec courts … Many of his judgements, written in French and English, are considered authoritative statements on the civil law in Canada.” John E.C. Brierley, “Pierre–Basile Mignault,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, vol. 2, Mel Hurtig, editor in chief & James Harley Marsh, editor, Edmonton, 1985, 1130–1131.
20. John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690.
21. Cartesius: “Ego cogito, ergo sum, sive existo … ea enim est natura nostrae mentis, ut generales propositiones ex particularium cognitione efformet.”
See: “The noumenon is not the concept of an object, but only a problem … my existence cannot, as Descartes supposed, be considered as derived from the proposition, I think … the so–called syllogism of Cartesius, cogito, ergo sum, is in reality tautological.” Immanuel Kant.
See also: “In Descartes’ method of establishing the subjectivity of sense–perception, we have extreme idealism on the one hand and a vague sensationalism on the other … He who would know the philosophy of our times must first well learn the philosophy of Kant.” John Paul Ashley, Apriorism from Descartes to Kant, Boston, 1894, 21–73.
22. Frank Morgan and Henry William Carless Davis, French Policy Since 1871, London, Oxford University Press, 1914, 4.
23. William Thomas Jones, “Age of Reason,” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Chicago, 1971, 130b. See: “By the time of World War I, the idea that all people were equal had gained influence in many nations through democracy and socialism. As a result, the role of aristocracies in government declined sharply.” Alexander J. Groth, “Aristocracy,” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Chicago, 1992, 662.
24. Pierre–Basile Mignault, “Préface,” Le Droit civil canadien basé sur les “Répétitions écrites sur le code civil” de Frédéric Mourlon avec revue de la jurisprudence de nos tribunaux, Tome 1, Montréal, 1895, v: “Aucun pays ne possède une littérature légale comparable à celle de la France … Ce code [le code Napoléon], malgré ses défauts, est aujourd’hui le plus beau titre de gloire du grand homme dont il porte le nom.”
25. See: “An expert on Napoléon Bonaparte, Desmarais is in many ways himself a driven man who cannot stop looking for new ways to expand his power.” Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos, Voices from French Ontario, Kingston and Montreal, 1982, 157. See also: “It is the soldier who founds a republic and it is the soldier who maintains it.” Napoleon Bonaparte in Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher, Bonapartism: Six Lectures Delivered in the University of London, Oxford, 1908, 33–34. See also: “Canada is my country. Quebec is my province.” Paul Desmarais in Ross Marowits, “Canadian Business Giant Desmarais Dead at 86,” Global News, 9 October 2013.
26. Robin Philpot, Derrière l’État Desmarais: Power, 2e édition, Montréal, 2014, 14–15: “Claude Frenette, adjoint de Paul Desmarais … a été élu président de l’aile québécoise du Parti libéral fédéral en vue du congrès au leadership et, dans les bureaux mêmes de Power Corporation, avec Pierre Trudeau, il a établi le plan qui mènerait celui-ci à la direction du Parti libéral et au poste de premier ministre du Canada.”
See also: “[Jack Porteous’s] son Timothy later became an adviser to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and head of the Canada Council. Porteous’s clients included a rising entrepreneur from Sudbury named Paul Desmarais.” Rae Murphy, Robert Chodos and Nick Auf der Maur, Brian Mulroney: The Boy from Baie Comeau, Toronto, 1985, 60.
See finally: “[Judy Verlyn LaMarsh 1924–1980] at the convention, with microphone nearby, told Hellyer to fight the ‘bastard’ Trudeau to the end.” John English, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–2000, vol. 2, Toronto, 2010, 12–13.
Remarks: Incidentally, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to Anne–Marie Gingras, hired Paul Desmarais Junior to combat the recession in 2008: “Paul Desmarais Jr a quant à lui été nommé en décembre 2008 par Stephen Harper à un comité chargé de le conseiller au sujet de la récession économique.” Anne–Marie Gingras, Médias et démocratie: Le grand malentendu, 3e édition, Québec, 2009, 114.
Considering the ever–diminishing number of Red Tory and Blue Liberal factions left–over from the Mulroney years, it is not at all surprising that the Desmarais family should still have some influence in Ottawa. By no means is the exact historiographical and world historical relationship between Stephen Harper and the Desmarais family anywhere similar to the political and economic relationship between the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais on the one hand, and Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin on the other, as the scientific notion of the Québec Inc. East is east and west is west: Never the twain shall meet, — in the world historical collapse of modernity and rise of Globalism.
27. Paul Douglas Stevens, “Pierre E. Trudeau: Prime Minister of Canada, 1968,” The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 18, Chicago, 1971, 380b. This is an attack upon Maurice Duplessis and the Union nationale, the destruction of which greatly benefited Pierre Trudeau and his family. Today Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada and a multi–millionaire, instead of being the manager of his grandfather’s gas station. Indeed, the latter statement is a generous assumption, considering that Pierre Trudeau had no business acumen in the real world of finance, commerce and industry. Unless, of course, the study of abstract economic theories and the selling of political tracts is considered the activity of a businessman.
28. See: “When Joe Clark spoke against renewed and expanded support for bilingualism, he reflected the views held most strongly in the western provinces, where the Conservatives had won 49 seats in the 1974 election, compared with only 13 for the Liberals, of which 8 were in British Columbia. Conversely, the support for bilingualism was strongest in Québec, where Clark had won only 3 seats, while Trudeau had taken 60. Clark could not therefore expand his support, as he needed to do to win an election.” John English, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–2000, vol. 2, Toronto, 2010, 347.
Remarks: It is historically irrelevant whether or not Joe Clark could or could not expand his support: Clark did not expand his support. Unfortunately, John English advances no exact historiographical proof that support for bilingualism was strongest in Québec; he advances no exact historiographical proof that Joe Clark lost the election because he spoke against renewed and expanded support for bilingualism; and he advances no exact historiographical proof that Pierre Trudeau won the election because support for bilingualism was strongest in Québec. The history of Bill 63 (Loi pour promovoir la langue française au Québec, 1969); Bill 22 (Loi sur la langue officielle,1974); Bill 101 (Charte de la langue française, 1977), proves the contrary, namely, that in Québec the support for bilingualism was not very strong. If support for bilingualism was very strong, why is Québec not an officially bilingual province?
If “support for bilingualism” merely means “support for the political and economic doctrine that all federal government employees outside of Québec must be bilingual,” then the question is not first and foremost a linguistic one, but rather a question of fairness in government employment, because the vast majority of the population of English Canada is anglophone and not francophone.
In the realm of exact historiography and world history, in the collapse of modernity and rise of Globalism in Canada, the downfall of Joe Clark is rather the result of the Québeckocentric factions in the Progressive Conservative Party and the Liberal Party of Canada, namely, the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais: “[Brian Mulroney] chafed at serving those who had defeated him at party conventions. He refused to run for Parliament, he grumbled in the backrooms, and he kept his friends around him, ready to make another attempt for power if and when the new leader [Joe Clark] faltered … For all his pious pronouncements, Mulroney had demonstrated from the start of the regime that old-style patronage remained a critical component of his politics, and Canadians soon realized that the revolution of September 4, 1984, had merely substituted one set of faces for another on the government’s Jetstars and in luxury hotels in New York and Paris,” (David Bercuson, Jack Lawrence Granatstein & William Robert Young, Sacred Trust? Brian Mulroney and the Conservative Party in Power, Toronto, 1986, 2–303).
Here are some more examples of the corrupt nature of Brian Mulroney, Québec Regimer extraordinaire: “In 1972, Desmarais hired Mulroney as negotiator during a labour dispute at his paper La Presse. In apparent appreciation of Mulroney’s work, Desmarais became Mulroney’s biggest financial backer, starting with his leadership bid in 1976. Mulroney confirmed the relationship after becoming Prime Minister. In September 1990, Mulroney appointed John Sylvain, Desmarais’s brother–in–law to the Senate, one of eight controversial appointments that ensured the passage of the Goods and Services Tax. In June 1993, Mulroney appointed Desmarais’s brother, Jean Noel Desmarais, to the Senate as part of a flurry of patronage appointments. Now Mulroney has returned to work for Power Corporation’s long–time law firm, Ogilvy Renault,” Robert A. Hackett, Richard S. Gruneau, Donald Gutstein, and Timothy A. Gibson, The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada’s Press, Aurora, Ontario, 2000, 131–132.
Remarks: Brian Mulroney, like Trudeau, Chrétien and Martin, was always a Québec Regime crook: “In 1981, the Mulroney’s sold the family house at 68 Belvedere Road to Iron Ore Company of Canada, where Mulroney was president from 1977 until he entered — and last month won — the campaign for the Tory leadership. The records only say the price was $1 plus ‘good and valuable consideration’ … The records show that on October 15, 1976, Mila Pivnicki, (Mrs. Mulroney’s maiden name, although they were married in 1973) bought the Westmount house from Arthur Sanft, a local dress manufacturer. But — again — the records only say the price was $1 and ‘good and valuable consideration,’” (Anonymous, “Mystery Shrouds Sale of Mulroney’s Westmount Home,” The Montreal Gazette, 5 July 1983, A3). We surmise that Mulroney was first seriously corrupted when he worked for the Cliche Commission on Organized Crime.
29. Robert A. Hackett, Richard S. Gruneau, Donald Gutstein & Timothy A. Gibson, The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada’s Press, Aurora, Ontario, 2000, 131–132.
30. Ross Marowits, “Canadian Business Giant Desmarais Dead at 86,” Global News, 9 October 2013.
31. Robin Philpot, “Paul Desmarais: un bilan s’impose,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2013.
32. Yves Michaud in Robin Philpot, Derrière L’État Desmarais: Power, 2ième édition, Montréal, 2014, 13–14.
33. Robert A. Hackett, Richard S. Gruneau, Donald Gutstein & Timothy A. Gibson, The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada’s Press, Aurora, Ontario, 2000, 132. See: Anonymous, “Canada’s Satellite TV Row Clouds Chrétien’s Image,” The Toledo Blade, 30 April 1995, A13.
34. Peter Charles Newman, “Epitaph for the Two–Party State: Trust Canadians to Invent a New System of Government: Elected Dictatorship,” Maclean’s, (1 November 1993): 14.
35. Ross Marowits, “Canadian Business Giant Desmarais Dead at 86,” Global News, 9 October 2013.
36. “Cet empire est reconnu pour être en mesure de faire et de défaire des gouvernements québécois et canadiens, et ce, depuis bientôt 40 ans.” Philpot, Derrière l’État Desmarais: Power, 11.
37. Saidatou Dicko, Un Conseil d’administration fortement réseauté pour une Power Corporation, Paris, 2012, 23–26–29: “Power Corporation du Canada compte dix–sept membres sur son conseil d’administration … il s’agit de Pierre Beaudoin, Laurent Dassault, André Desmarais, l’honorable Paul Desmarais, Paul Desmarais, Jr., Paul Fribourg, Anthony R. Graham, Robert Gratton, le très honorable Donald F. Mazankowski, Jerry E.A. Nickerson, James R. Nininger, R. Jeffery Orr, Robert Parizeau, Michel Plessis–Bélair, John A. Rae, Amaury–Daniel de Seze et Emöke J.E. Szathmáry … Pierre Beaudoin est aussi premier vice–président et membre du conseil d’administration de l’entreprise Bombardier Inc. À cet effet, il a des relations directes avec tous les membres de direction ainsi qu’avec ceux qui siègent en même temps que lui sur le conseil d’administration de Bombardier Inc., à savoir, Laurent Beaudoin, André Berard, J.R. André Bombardier, Janine Bombardier, L. Denis Desautels, Jean–Louis Fontaine, Jane F. Garvey, Daniel Johnson, Jean C. Monty, Andre Navarri, Carlos E. Represas, Jean–Pierre Rosso, Federico Sada G., Heinrich Weiss … Or, comme Paul Desmarais Sr., Laurent Beaudoin est un des hommes les plus en vue et les plus important du Québec. Non seulement est–il reconnu pour diriger une des entreprises les plus ‘populaires’ du Québec, mais il a été conseiller politique et impliqué dans des opérations politiques au cours des trois dernières décennies.” See: “[Carlos Eduardo Represas] came in contact with many future politicians, a number of whom are now in cabinet–level positions.” Roderic A. Camp, Entrepreneurs and Politics in Twentieth–Century Mexico, New York, 1989, 94.
See: “Since 1966, when it collected its very first subsidy, Bombardier has received over $4 billion in public funds.” Anonymous, “Bombardier: Over $4 Billion in Public Funds Since 1966,” Montreal Economic Institute, 8 February 2017.
See also: “Industry Canada provides slightly different numbers, saying Bombardier has received $1.3 billion in repayable contributions since 1966, of which it has repaid $584.6 million to date. Most of this taxpayer funding is in the form of repayable or conditionally repayable loans, which are triggered when, for example, the recipient’s gross revenues are higher than a base amount laid out in the contract. However, because of Bombardier’s efforts to block the release of information, it’s virtually impossible to determine whether the individual contributions — and repayment of those contributions — met the objectives and forecasts of the government. It’s also very difficult to discover whether government contributions have created the jobs that were promised when the funding was announced.” Kristine Owram, “How Bombardier Inc Suppresses Information About How Much Government Funding It Receives,” The Financial Post, 11 March 2016.
38. Anonymous, “En bref―Desmarais au CHUM,” Le Devoir, 12 février 2009. See also: “Hélène Desmarais was nominated yesterday as the president of the board of the Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce during the annual general meeting. Hélène Desmarais, president of the board and general director of the Business Innovation Centre of Montréal, succeeded Elliot Lifson, vice-president of the board of Peerless Clothing. Hélène Desmarais will work with the president and chief executive officer, Isabelle Hudon.” Anonymous, “En bref — Hélène Desmarais, présidente du conseil de la CCMM,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2007.
39. Kevin Steel, “How Montreal’s Power Corporation Found Itself Caught Up in the Biggest Fiasco in UN History,” The Western Standard, 5 March 2005.
40. Robin Philpot, “Paul Desmarais: un bilan s’impose,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2013: “Les liquidités de l’ampleur de son ambition ne pouvaient se trouver que dans le giron de l’État, principalement celui du Québec. C’est l’histoire de la prise de contrôle par Paul Desmarais de Gelco (Gatineau Electric), devenu Gesca, et de Power, qui disposaient d’importantes liquidités versées par l’État … Début 1989, dans la plus importante transaction financière de l’histoire du Canada, Desmarais vend à des Américains pour plus de 2,6 milliards de dollars la Consolidated-Bathurst, joyau de l’industrie papetière québécoise qui avait profité depuis des dizaines d’années des largesses du gouvernement du Québec. Suit la vente de Montréal Trust pour 550 millions. Voilà un pactole de 3 milliards arrachés aux ressources naturelles et à la sueur des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec.”
41. Richard Le Hir, Desmarais: La Dépossession Tranquille, Saint Denis, Montréal, 2012, 15.
See also: “Early in 1994 he [Mulroney] accompanied Power Corporation’s Paul Desmarais to China to advise him on the corporation’s role in the massive Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric project with Ontario Hydro and Hydro–Quebec, as well as a $60–million real estate development in the Pudong region of China near Shanghai. Mulroney was extremely well compensated by Power Corporation for his assistance.” Stevie Cameron, On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years, Toronto, 1994, 482–483.
42. Ibidem, 13: “Paul Desmarais n’est pas un bâtisseur. C’est un prédateur, un loup qui a compris qu’il est beaucoup plus facile de convaincre le berger de lui ouvrir toutes grandes les portes de la bergerie que de chercher continuellement à déjouer sa surveillance … Le séjour en famille de Michael Sabia, président de la Caisse de dépôt, au somptueux palais de Paul Desmarais à Sagard aura permis à tous les Québécois de découvrir le caractère totalement anormal et inacceptable des pratiques de l’empire Desmarais dans ses rapports avec le gouvernement du Québec, ses ministères et les entreprises et organismes qu’il contrôle.”
43. Jules Bélanger, Jean–Louis Lévesque: La montée d’un Gaspésien aux sommets des affaires, Saint–Laurent, 1996, 138–166: “Le financier Lévesque, venu à Montréal de sa lointaine Gaspésie, ‘savait par expérience quelles difficultés attendaient un Canadian français [sic] désirant se lancer en affaires et il pris en quelque sorte le jeune et fougueux Desmarais sous as tutelle en lui ouvrant les portes des cercles financiers francophones du Québec … le Lévesque dont la plupart des Canadiens ont entendu parler est le volubile orateur, René, le ministre des Resources naturelles du Québec. Le riche, c’est Jean–Louis, un lointain cousin qui contrôle le plus grand empire financier du Québec.’”
See: “Trans–Canada was owned by both Paul Desmarais and Jean–Louis Lévesque, but Paul had control of the shares. Their business association did not last very long. In my opinion they could not work together. They each had very different philosophies. Paul Desmarais was an administrator who had very long term views. Jean–Louis Lévesque was more of a speculator. Desmarais bought out Lévesque and their problem was resolved.” Wilbrod Bherer in Marie Lise Gingras, Wilbrod Bherer: un grand Québécois, 1905–1998, Sillery, Québec, 2001, 211: “Trans–Canada était la propriété de Paul Desmarais et Jean–Louis Lévesque, toutefois Paul avait le contrôle des actions. Mais cette association ne dura pas longtemps. À mon avis, c’était deux gars qui ne pouvaient pas travailler ensemble. Ils n’avaient pas du tout la même philosophie. Desmarais était un administrateur qui avait des idées à perte de vue. Lévesque, lui, etait plus un spéculateur. Paul a reglé le problème en achetant les parts de Lévesque.”
See also: “Paul Desmarais was the friend and backer of Lester B. Pearson.” Anne–Marie Gingras, Médias et démocratie: Le grand malentendu, 3e édition, Québec, 2009, 113: “[Paul Desmarais] a été ami et supporter de Lester B. Pearson.”
44. See: “In the fall of 1963, a rising CBC producer–performer, Patrick Watson, travelled to Montréal to search for a co–host for a new national public affairs program, Inquiry. He went to the University of Montréal to interview a law professor, little known in English Canada but who, Watson knew, possessed the mental agility and physical presence to become an instant television star. Their conversation came to nothing because Trudeau insisted on full control of his own material … Later that day, Watson went on to another Montréal campus and by evening had signed up another professor, Laurier LaPierre, from McGill.” Richard Gwyn, The Northern Magus: Pierre Trudeau and Canadians, Sandra Gwyn, editor, Toronto, 1980, 45–46.
45. The catalog of the monstrous political and economic crimes of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Paul Desmarais cannot be summarized with complete certainty until the Government of Canada makes the archives of Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin known to the public. But it is important that we should form a provisional judgement of the historical nature of the Québec Regime in Ottawa and Empire of Desmarais from such material as is available. For this step is a necessary phase in the renovation of our political and economic institutions and the aggrandizement of Canada and the Canadian People in the New World: Only by this insight into the political and economic necessity of such a recovery can our civilization be rescued from the shameful financial, commercial and industrial decay in which we are immersed at the present time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED
Arnopoulos, Sheila McLeod, Voices from French Ontario, (Kingston/Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1982).
Bélanger, Jules, J.-Louis Lévesque: La montée d’un Gaspésien aux sommets des affaires, (Saint-Laurent, Fides, 1996).
Brierley, John E.C., “Pierre-Basile Mignault,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, vol. 2, (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1985), 1130–1131.
Camp, Roderic A., Entrepreneurs and Politics in Twentieth-Century Mexico, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Dicko, Saidatou, Un Conseil d’administration fortement réseauté pour une Power Corporation, (Paris: Éditions Publibook, 2012).
English, John, Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–2000, vol. 2, (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2010).
Fisher, Herbert Albert Laurens, Bonapartism: Six Lectures Delivered in the University of London, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1908).
Gingras, Anne-Marie, Médias et démocratie: Le grand malentendu, 3ième édition, (Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2009).
Gingras, Marie Lise, Wilbrod Bherer: un grand Québecois, 1905–1998, (Sillery, Québec: Les Éditions du Septantrion, 2001).
Groth, Alexander J., “Aristocracy,” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, (Chicago: World Book Inc., 1992), 662.
Gwyn, Richard, The Northern Magus: Pierre Trudeau and Canadians, Sandra Gwyn, editor, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1980).
Hackett, Robert A., Richard S. Gruneau, Donald Gutstein, and Timothy A. Gibson, The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada’s Press, (Aurora, Ontario: Garamond Press, 2000).
Jones, William Thomas, “Age of Reason,” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, (Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, 1971).
Le Hir, Richard, Desmarais: La Dépossession Tranquille, (Saint Denis, Montréal: Éditions Michel Brulé, 2012).
Lévesque, Kathleen, “Un appui concret au PLQ: Depuis 1998, les Desmarais ont versé plus de $300 000 au parti de Jean Charest,” Le Devoir, 19 mai 2011.
Marowits, Ross, “Canadian Business Giant Desmarais Dead at 86,” Global News, 9 October 2013.
Mignault, Pierre-Basile, “Préface,” Le Droit civil canadien basé sur les “Répétitions écrites sur le code civil” de Frédéric Mourlon avec revue de la jurisprudence de nos tribunaux, Tome 1, (Montréal: Whiteford & Théoret, Éditeurs Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1895), v-xii.
Morgan, Frank and Henry William Carless Davis, French Policy Since 1871, (London: Oxford University Press, 1914).
Newman, Peter Charles, “Epitaph for the Two-Party State: Trust Canadians to Invent a New System of Government: Elected Dictatorship,” Maclean’s, (1 November 1993): 14.
Philpot, Robin, “Paul Desmarais: un bilan s’impose,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2013.
――, Derrière l’État Desmarais: Power, 2ième édition, (Montréal: Livres Baraka Inc., 2014).
Steel, Kevin, “How Montreal’s Power Corporation Found Itself Caught Up in the Biggest Fiasco in UN History,” The Western Standard, 5 March 2005.
Stevens, Paul Douglas, “Pierre E. Trudeau: Prime Minister of Canada, 1968,” The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 18, (Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, 1971), 380a-381.
SELECT DESMARAIS BIBLIOGRAPHY 1969–2017
Ian Anderson, “Paul Desmarais Buys More Power,” The Montreal Gazette, 15 July 1977, 9.
Anonymous, “Brian Mulroney vend sa maison au fils de Paul Desmarais Jr.,” TVA Nouvelles, 10 octobre 2015.
――, “Power Corp encore une fois dans le viseur du fisc,” TVA Nouvelles, 26 septembre 2015.
――, “Liens avec la famille Desmarais: Péladeau dénonce Charest,” Canoe.ca, 26 mars 2014.
――, “La succession de Paul Desmarais vend des actions,” Le Devoir, 8 janvier 2014.
――, “Desmarais advances on Buffet Zone, The Australian Business Review, 3 August 2009.
――, “En bref―Desmarais au CHUM,” Le Devoir, 12 février 2009.
――, “En bref―Hélène Desmarais, présidente du conseil de la CCMM,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2007.
――, “Power Corp. and the Desmarais Family,” Financial Sector Blogspot, 25 May 2006.
――, “Paul Desmarais Sr. hospitalized after stroke,” CBC News, 31 May 2005.
――, “Canada’s Satellite TV Row Clouds Chrétien’s Image,” The Toledo Blade, 30 April 1995, A13.
――, “Power-Play: Desmarais Anoints Sons to Take Over Empire,” Ottawa Citizen, 6 June 1986, C3.
――, “Desmarais Steps Aside to Give Sons More Power,” Ottawa Citizen, 1 May 1986, D15.
――, “Le projet Revi-Centre achemine vers Québec,” L’Écho de Louiseville Berthier, 12 décembre 1984, 10.
――, “University Founder J.-N. Desmarais,” The Gazette, 6 October 1983, B18.
――, “Chrétien malade,” L’Évangéline, 20 janvier 1981, 13.
――, “Changes Could Boost Desmarais’ Control of Power,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 April 1980, 69.
――, “Desmarais, Hebert to Seek Re-election,” The South Shore News, 20 December 1979, 6.
――, “Desmarais Seeks Dollard Job,” The Montreal Gazette, 7 March 1979, 5.
――, “Power Corporation réalise un bénéfice de $13.3 millions,” Le Devoir, 17 février 1978, 27.
――, “Louis Desmarais Expected to Run as Tory,” The Montreal Gazette, 31 March 1978, 6.
――, “Desmarais Aims to Forge a Front,” The Montreal Gazette, 1 December 1977, 4.
――, “Power Corp. Executive Dies,” The Montreal Gazette, 23 February 1976, 4.
――, “Power Corporation Holdings,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1975, 13.
――, “Ottawa Now Studying Proposed [Argus Corporation] Takeover,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1975, 13.
――, “Argus Holdings,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1975, 13.
――, “Power Corporation doubla ses profits,” Le Devoir, 14 aout 1974, 13.
――, “Mais qui est donc André Desmarais?” La Patrie, 11 mai 1969, 8.
Pierre Arbour, Québec Inc. and the Temptation of State Capitalism, Madeleine Hébert, translator, (Toronto/Montréal: Robert Davies Publishing, 1997).
――, Quebec Inc: La Tentation du Dirigisme, (Montréal: L’Étincelle, 1993).
Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos, Voices from French Ontario, (Kingston/Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1982).
Benoit Aubin, “Desmarais Ready to Guarantee News Team’s Independence,” The Montreal Gazette, 18 March 1986, C1.
Henry Aubin, “Desmarais and McDougald: Two Titans Meet,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1975, 13.
Nick Auf der Maur, “Asbestos Corporation Used in U.S. Bribes: Ex Official,” The Montreal Gazette, 15 May 1986, A1-A8.
Ian Austen, “The Name is ‘Power’ and It Fits,” The New York Times, 26 January 2006.
Robert Barberis-Gervais, “Limites et dangers du concept de coupable par association,” Sorel Tracy Magazine: L’Opinion du Lecteur, 2 août 2013.
Robert Barberis-Gervais, “Les aventures politiques de Richard Le Hir,” Sorel Tracy Magazine: L’Opinion du Lecteur, 12 mai 2014.
Bertille Bayart, “Décès de Paul Desmarais, le complice canadien d’Albert Frère,” Le Figaro, 9 octobre 2013.
Jules Bélanger, J.-Louis Lévesque: La montée d’un Gaspésien aux sommets des affaires, (Saint-Laurent: Fides, 1996).
Jacques Benjamin et Pierre O’Neill, Les Mandarins du Pouvoir: L’Exercice du Pouvoir au Québec de Jean Lesage à René Lévesque, (Montréal: Québec/Amérique, 1978).
Sylvie Bergeron, “Ça change quoi de savoir tout ça?” Le Huffington Post Québec: Les Blogues, 9 juillet 2015.
Annabelle Blais, “Un Faste Royale au Mariage de Jacqueline-Ariadne Desmarais,” La Presse.ca, 7 September 2013.
Yves Boisvert, “Paul Desmarais, l’empereur,” La Presse.ca, 10 octobre 2013.
Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot, “Cinq grands coups de Paul Desmarais,” La Presse.ca, 10 octobre 2013.
Alex Castonguay, “L’ombre politique de Paul Desmarais,” L’Actualité, 9 octobre 2013.
Jean-François Cloutier, “L’ampleur du pouvoir des Desmarais mise en lumière,” TVA Nouvelles, 2 avril 2012.
Jean-François Cloutier, “L’Affaire Quick: Une vente à prix gonflé pour enricher des amis, selon Kuhn,” Le Journal de Montréal, 16 février 2014.
Jean-François, Cloutier, “La fiducie familiale des Desmarais se reorganise,” TVA Nouvelles, 1 janvier 2016.
Jean-François Cloutier et Gérard Samet, “Paul Desmarais se renforce en Europe,” TVA Nouvelles, 11 juillet 2011.
Terence Corcoran, “Desmarais Hits Back at Critics of Takeovers,” The Montreal Gazette, 1 May 1975, 17.
Terence Corcoran, “Power Corp. may Syndicate Holdings in Argus Preferred,” The Montreal Gazette, 1 May 1975, 17.
Louis Cornellier, “Essais Québécois — Dépeindre le pouvoir: Robin Philpot tente de percer le ‘secret’ dont s’entourent Paul Desmarais et l’empire Power,” Le Devoir, 13 décembre 2008.
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, Straight From the Heart, 1st edition, (Toronto: Seal Books, 1986).
Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, Robin Philpot’s Argument and the Legacy of Paul Desmarais, archive.org, 28 February 2016.
――, editor, Power Corporation and the Oil-for-Food Scandal, Second Edition, By Kevin Steel, Medium, 2017
――, Robin Philpot’s Argument and the Legacy of Paul Desmarais, Second Edition, Medium, 2017.
――, editor and translator, The Energy East Project and Trans Canada, By Pierre Karl Peladeau, archive.org, 1 March 2016.
――, editor and translator, The Corrupt Legacy of Paul Desmarais, By Robin Philpot, archive.org, 3 July 2016.
――, Jean Chrétien and French Chauvinism, Medium, 2017.
――, Who Murdered Duplessis, Sauvé and Johnson? Medium, 2016.
――, Paul Desmarais and the Québec Regime in Ottawa 1968–2006, Medium, 2016.
Saidatou Dicko, Un Conseil d’administration fortement réseauté pour une Power Corporation, (Paris: Éditions Publibook, 2012).
Martine Vanden Driessche, “Albert Frère et Paul Desmarais Majoritaires dans Pargesa,” Le Soir, 23 février 1990.
Louis Fournier, “Jean Lesage, the Montreal Trust et Power Corporation: Le Signe de $$$,” Québec-Presse, 30 août 1970, 12A.
José-Alain Fralon, Albert Frère: Le fils du marchand de clous, (Paris: Fayard, 1997).
Matthew Fraser, Quebec Inc: French-Canadian Entrepreneurs and the New Business Elite, (Toronto: Key Porter, 1987).
Geneviève Garon et Marc Verreault, “Un procès au civil déchire les Desmarais, de Power Corporation,” Radio Canada Économie,” 12 Janvier 2017.
Ann Gibbon, “Desmarais Resigns at Power Financial: Son New President,” The Montreal Gazette, 1 May 1986, F6.
E.J. Gordon, “Wedding Most Glamourous of Year: Paul Guy Desmarais―Hélène Blouin,” The Montreal Gazette, 10 September 1979, 49.
David Greber, Rising to Power: Paul Desmarais and Power Corporation, (Toronto: Methuen, 1987).
Robert A. Hackett, Richard S. Gruneau, Donald Gutstein, Timothy A. Gibson, The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada’s Press, (Aurora, Ontario: Garamond Press, 2000).
Graeme Hamilton, “Paul Desmarais Chose Business Over Politics, But His Perceived Influence Extended Even Beyond Canada’s Borders,” National Post, 9 October 2013.
Marc Jussaume, “La Réplique: Paul Desmarais — L’argumentaire boiteux de Robin Philpot,” Le Devoir, 17 octobre 2013.
Lisa Kassenaar, “Buffett Loses to Desmarais as Power Exceeds Return,” Bloomberg Business, 29 July 2009.
Richard Le Hir, Desmarais: La Dépossession tranquille, (Saint Denis, Montréal: Les Éditions Michel Brûlé, 2012).
Richard Le Hir, “L’Empire Desmarais: Les Québécois vont financer les entreprises EDF et Enbridge,” Mondialisation.ca, 4 octobre 2013.
Jean Lesage, Lesage s’engage, (Montréal: Les Éditions politiques du Québec, 1959).
Jennifer Lewington, “Power Corporation Plans Takeover,” The Montreal Gazette, 26 March 1975, 1–13.
Jean-François, Lisée, “Les Desmarais: un empire médiatico-bitumineux?” L’Actualité, 5 janvier 2010.
Jean-Sébastien Marsan, “Paul Desmarais: Une ‘main économique’ omniprésente?” TVA Nouvelles, 9 octobre 2013.
Rodolphe Morissette, “Louis Desmarais candidat libéral dans Dollard?” Le Devoir, 3 mars 1979, 2.
Peter Charles Newman, “Epitaph for the two-party state: Trust Canadians to Invent a New System of Government: Elected Dictatorship,” Maclean’s, 1 November 1993, 14.
Peter Charles Newman, The Canadian Establishment: The Old Order, vol. 1, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975).
Peter Charles Newman, The Canadian Establishment: The Acquisitors, vol. 2, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981).
Peter Charles Newman, The Canadian Establishment: The Titans, How the New Canadian Establishment Seized Power, vol. 3, (Toronto: Viking Canada, 1998).
Pierre O’Neill et Jacques Benjamin, Les Mandarins du Pouvoir: L’Exercice du Pouvoir au Québec de Jean Lesage à René Lévesque, (Montréal: Québec/Amérique, 1978).
Pierre Karl Peladeau, Le projet Énergie Est de Trans Canada, Vigile.Quebec, 1 novembre 2014.
Pierre Karl Peladeau, The Energy East Project and Trans Canada, Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, editor and translator, archive.org, 2016.
Andrew Phillips, “Desmarais Nominated in Dollard,” The Montreal Gazette, 4 April 1979, 10.
Robin Philpot, Derrière L’État Desmarais: Power, 2ième édition, (Montréal: Livres Baraka Inc., 2014).
Robin Philpot, Derrière L’État Desmarais: Power, 1ière édition, (Montréal: Les Intouchables, 2008).
Robin Philpot, “Paul Desmarais: un bilan s’impose,” Le Devoir, 12 octobre 2013.
Robin Philpot, The Corrupt Legacy of Paul Desmarais, Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, editor and translator, archive.org, 3 July 2016. [2013]
Luciano Pipia, “Huge Montreal Wedding Today,” CJAD 800 News, 7 September 2013.
Frederick Rose, “We Still Want Argus, Desmarais Tells Bryce,” The Montreal Gazette, 11 December 1975, 19.
Gérard Samet et Jean-François Cloutier, “Paul Desmarais se renforce en Europe,” TVA Nouvelles, 11 juillet 2011.
Lou Seligson, “Trouble-Shooter Par Excellence,” The Montreal Gazette, 25 August 1971, 25.
Harvey Shepherd, “Desmarais Romps to Victory as Dollard Sticks with Tradition,” The Montreal Gazette, 23 May 1979, 10.
Kevin Steel, “How Montreal’s Power Corporation Found Itself Caught Up in the Biggest Fiasco in UN History,” The Western Standard, 5 March 2005.
Jonathan Trudel, “Desmarais et les ficelles du pouvoir,” L’Actualité, 9 octobre 2013.
Mathieu Turbide, “Power et le pétrole ‘sale,’” Le Journal de Montréal, 19 décembre 2009.
Michel Vastel, “Le secret de Paul Desmarais,” L’Actualité, 9 octobre 2013.
Richard Vigneault, “Réplique à Robin Philpot: La France n’est pas le Québec,” Le Devoir, 5 février 2009.
James Winter, “Reporting on the Pharmaceutical Industry: Profit Before People,” The Political Economy of Media and Power, Jeffery Klaehn, editor, (New York: Peter Lang, 2010), 243–273.
©2017–2019 Christopher Richard Wade Dettling, Paul Desmarais and Canadian Culture. All rights reserved. This work is only for Medium and its users: Users are not permitted to mount this writing on any network servers. No part of this writing may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the author, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web.
