THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY IN CANADA … and beginning the fight to get it back

Written By No.1 Auteur Media and Studio

(July 17, 2025) Jack Etkin

In my opinion, our democracy here in Canada has mostly been stolen from us by Big Business and the Super-Rich, and it's very important for our futures to begin to do the work needed to get at least some of our democracy back. Because democracy is important. Democracy means that we, the people, have a voice in our governance and in what our governments are doing to us.

But do you think we have that voice now?
Or does Big Business have the big voice, and the rest of us are powerless and irrelevant?

For example, I think we could have almost completely avoided the entire housing disaster of the past 15 or 20 years if we had more democracy in Canada.

Did you ever vote for millions of Canadians to have to pay back-breaking rents and mortgages so that bankers, financiers, investors, speculators, and big landowners could make fortunes?
I don’t think we would have voted for that.
But the fact is: we didn’t HAVE a vote. Only they had a vote. And they did it to us because they had the power, and we had none.

And that is the state of democracy in Canada in 2025.
It’s a mess.
And you’ll notice the question “Where is all the money from the high rents and high mortgages going?” is a question that never gets asked.

That’s what happens to people when they become powerless and voiceless.
They get taken advantage of by some very bad people who want only more for themselves — and to hell with anyone else.

That’s what was done to us with the housing crisis.

Democracy and Health: Plastic in our Brains, GMOs in our Food

Our loss of democracy is also — in my opinion — the exact reason why half of us are now getting cancer. Because corporations can poison us just about as much as they want, and we are powerless to stop them.

We all have plastic in our brains now. Did we ever get a vote about that?

Our foods are filled with GMOs and chemicals and whatever else a corporation wants to put in it — all to make a bit more money.

Who Makes Tax Policy in Canada?

Certainly not the poor.

Our tax policies have been changed over the past 50 years so that:

  • The poor pay more

  • The rich pay less

  • Corporations often pay nothing

Environmental policy? Same story.

It’s made by logging corporations, chemical companies, Big Oil, and mining giants. And to hell with anyone or anything unlucky enough to get in their way.

Who Controls Our Government?

Does Canada have government of the people?

Or do we have government of Big Business and the Super-Rich?

Is that important? Do we care?
And how come that never gets talked about?

Is it the poor who control our governments?
Is it working people? Environmental groups?

Or is it the corporations and the rich?

The Corporate Media: Not Working for You

Remember — Big Business and the Super-Rich also own and control almost all of the big media.

And if we trust their media, it becomes much easier for them to control us — and steal from us.

All the nice corporate journalists on TV and radio — they don’t work for us. They work for corporations. And if they say something their employers don’t like, they’re fired immediately.

That’s a sad fact about our so-called free press.
They do not work for us.

And that’s why democracy is never talked about in the media.
It’s just about the last thing they want us thinking or talking about.
So instead we get stories about crime, gender, and sports — while democracy doesn’t get a mention.

So What Can We Do?

I would argue that democracy is important, and I would say that here in Canada, we have just about lost it.

So how do we start to get it back?

Step One: Want It Back

We have to want democracy back.
We have to realize:

  • Democracy is important

  • It is mostly gone

  • And it will take work to restore it

And it can be done.

Step Two: Democratize Our Political Parties

One way to begin is to join a political party, whatever one you prefer — and then start working from the inside to make it more democratic.

That means:

  • Party members have more control

  • People at the top of the party have less control

A Personal Example: The BC NDP

I just spent two years in the BC New Democratic Party, which is the governing party here in British Columbia.

In my opinion, the BC NDP is a democratic nightmare.

I think the party is completely run by a small gang at the top, and the party members are powerless and irrelevant.

And yet — they are the government of my province.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the leaders of the BC NDP are truly democratic.
But I don’t think so.
And it’s dangerous when we lose all control over our political parties.

And I don’t want to pick on the NDP — I have a feeling all the big parties are the same.

There Is Hope

If people get involved, and start organizing inside political parties, I believe it is possible to make real democratic gains — and we could see the benefits very quickly.

But success will take commitment, organization, and hard work.

Because those who run things now are not going to give up their power without a fight.

But if we want a future for the generations to come,
then I believe more democracy is a very good place to start.

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