PAUL DESMARAIS AND THE QUÉBEC REGIME IN OTTAWA 1968–2006
Christopher Richard Wade Dettling (2016)
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.”¹ 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.”² 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.³
The French Revolution brought to prominence the modern unreason of Kant, Hume, Leibniz and Locke and unleashed the sophistical distemper of the philosophes upon European politics and economics: “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.”⁴ “Diderot, Rousseau, and Voltaire, greatly influenced the leaders of the French Revolution.”⁵
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 … despite its perversions, the Napoleonic Code is actually the most beautiful and grandiose achievement of the almighty Napoleon Bonaparte.”⁶ 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.”⁷
… 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: 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.
WORKS CITED
1. “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: “[Pierre–Basile Mignault] is now chiefly remembered for his monumental treatise Le droit civil canadien which is still cited as an authority in Québec 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, 1st edition, vol. 2, James Harley Marsh, editor, Edmonton, Hurtig Publishers, 1985, 1130–1131.
2. John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690.
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, New Edition, 2 vols., New York, 1824, I/381–II/203. [1690]
See: “Locke was heavily involved in the slave trade, both through his investments and through his administrative supervision of England’s burgeoning colonial activities … The attempt to reconcile Locke’s involvement in the slave trade with his reputation as a philosopher of liberal freedom has a long history, beginning shortly after the abolition of the slave trade … Locke’s readers are faced with the problem of how he could have been so intimately involved in promoting an activity that he apparently knew to be unjustified … We are disturbed by the ease with which some commentators excuse Locke of racism or minimize its significance … to advocate, administer, and profit from a specifically racialized form of slavery is clear evidence of [Locke’s] racism, if the word is to have any meaning at all.”
Robert Bernasconi and Anika Maaza Mann, “The Contradictions of Racism: Locke, Slavery, and the Two Treatises,” Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, Andrew Valls, editor, Ithaca/London, 2005, 89–89–90–91–91.
3. Cartesius: “Ego cogito, ergo sum, sive existo … ea enim est natura nostrae mentis, ut generales propostiones ex particularium cognitione efformet.”
Cartesius, “Secundæ Responsiones,” Œuvres de Descartes: Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, vol. 7, Charles Adam & Paul Tannery, éditeurs, Paris, 1904, 140–141.
How very clear and distinct are the ideas of Cartesius, coming from his very own hand, although his best translators are also clear and distinct, but less clear and less distinct than the very words of Cartesius himself, as found in his very greatest works, since his Latin is now a dead language, while his modern interpreters fail to elucidate the rational foundations of their sophistical critiques.
See: “The conception of a noumenon is problematical … the conception of a noumenon is therefore not the conception of an object, but merely a problematical conception … my existence cannot be considered as an inference from the proposition, ‘I think,’ as Descartes maintained.”
Immanuel Kant, “The Critique of Pure Reason,” Great Books of the Western World: Kant, John Miller Dow Meiklejohn, translator & Robert Maynard Hutchins, editor in chief, Chicago, 1960, 106–106–127.
See also: “The concept of the noumenon is problematical … the concept of the noumenon is not therefore the concept of an object, but only a problem … the so–called syllogism of Cartesius, cogito, ergo sum, is in reality tautological.”
Immanuel Kant, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: A Commemoration of the Centenary of Its First Publication, vol. 2, Friedrich Max Müller, translator, London, 1881, 249–250–308.
See finally: “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.
4. Frank Morgan & Henry William Carless Davis, French Policy Since 1871, London, Oxford University Press, 1914, 4.
5. 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.
6. “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.” 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.
7. See: “An expert on Napoleon 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.
See finally: “Desmarais has been called the most powerful businessman in Canada, gaining the ear of Pierre Trudeau, Paul Martin, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien.” Ibidem.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED
Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos, Voices from French Ontario, (Kingston/Montreal: McGill–Queen’s University Press, 1982).
Robert Bernasconi and Anika Maaza Mann, “The Contradictions of Racism: Locke, Slavery, and the Two Treatises,” Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, Andrew Valls, editor, (Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press, 2005), 89–107.
Renatus Cartesius, “Secundæ Responsiones,” Œuvres de Descartes: Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, vol. 7, Charles Adam & Paul Tannery, éditeurs, (Paris: Léopold Cerf, 1904), 128–159.
William Thomas Jones, “Age of Reason,” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Chicago, 1971, 130b.
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, New Edition, 2 vols., (New York: Valentine Seaman, 1824). [1690]
Ross Marowits, “Canadian Business Giant Desmarais Dead at 86,” Global News, 9 October 2013.
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: Whiteford & Théoret, Éditeurs Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1895), v–xii.
Frank Morgan and Henry William Carless Davis, French Policy Since 1871, (London: Oxford University Press, 1914).
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 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.
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