The Companies We Keep: An Introduction

• Author: Allan C. Hutchinson
• Pages: 1-15

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e Comnies W Kee:

 

 society of sheep must in tim e beget a goernment of woles.

~ Bertrand de Jouvenel

A    seems to be breaki ng every day —and

it is not si mply an Amer ican phenomenon. C anada has its own home-

grown products. ey might not be as huge or as ugly as Enron or

WorldCom, but the shenanigans of Nortel, Bre-X, Livent, Hollinger,

and others are big and bad enough. ese ascos are woeful and testif y

to the fall in public morality; venality seems to be the corporate or-

der of the day. Yet, as well as hig hlighting the prevalence of corporate

malfeasance, these scandals at least suggest that society is beginning

to take seriously the activities and antics of corporations. Canadians

are taking a more grave and sustained look at how corporations work.

ere is a greater willingness to open up the more arcane structures

of the corporate world to greater public scrutiny and attention. In

particular, questions are being asked about how large and ostensibly

private corporations t (or do not t) within the basic organization of

Canadian society and whether they live up to its democratic expec-

tations. As such, “corporate governance” has become a genuine mat-

ter of public concern. In lig ht of the enormous power and presence