The Empty Rhetoric of Martha Hall Finley. . .

Today on Power And Politics Evan Solomon interviewed Martha Hall Finley (perhaps my least favorite of all the Liberal Party leadership candidates). Finley was at pains to say that she is not one of those Liberals who think that the LPC should in any sense shift to the "left." Instead, she bragged at some length about how she is a "pro-business" candidate who is staunchly in favor of "free trade." Obviously aware of the dangers of essentially being a Tory candidate in a red scarf, Finley then made a few remarks about a national child-care program and responsible social system.

The problem is this - it seems to me that a growing number of Canadians (and people everywhere) are realizing that "free-trade" is little more than a code word for increasing corporate power. So-called free-trade agreements seldom have much to do with trade being more free (and nothing to do with the ability of the commodity of labour power being more free), rather these agreements are simply a way to create a layer of power above provincial and federal governments that allow multinational corporation to force governments into certain kinds of policies. Gradually through trade agreements we are seeing the emergence of a supra-government of international corporate oligarchy that can systematically destroy social welfare structures and confine governments to an ever smaller group of legislative possibilities.

It is taking time for people to wake up to this fact, but waking they are. And Martha Hall Finley is demonstrating that she is little more than a corporate stooge ready to do the bidding of a relatively small group of multinational corporations. Oh yes, she can talk all she wants about a national childcare program but she knows as well as the rest of us that such are empty words. When you are committed to de facto eliminating corporate tax revenues, allowing the complete rape of the land and rivers, handing over federal powers to international bodies that have no accountability and act in the interests of the largest economic powers, then all talk of social responsibility means less than nothing.