The Oil-for-Food Scandal – the Canadian Connection

by **Wlyonmackenzie** » 02/ 07/ 05 8:55 pm

You fans of the UN-global profiteering insiders are gonna hate me when I tell you some little schmuck from the UN in an enviromental debate today stated that the UN has laid claim to sovereignty over the earth's ocean floors.

by **rbacon** » 02/ 17/ 05 8:19 pm

Thought you had seen all there is to Mo Strong the devout commie nut case who is controlling and guiding the destiny of so many little taxpayers in Canada through the puppet Paul Martin. http://members.aol.com/XianAnarch/cause/maurice.htm

by **snakebite** » 02/ 17/ 05 8:25 pm

Wlyonmackenzie wrote:You fans of the UN-global profiteering insiders are gonna hate me when I tell you some little schmuck from the UN in an enviromental debate today stated that the UN has laid clain to sovereignty over the earth;s ocean floors.

It's called the LOST treaty. All the commies including Canadistan have signed on but the US has not, yet. Apparently Bush supports this crap according to Condi. I'll post a story on it.

by **rbacon** » 02/ 21/ 05 11:32 am

More Desmarais. This is the Godfather the man who really runs Canada. Desmarais most powerful?

Peter Black, Press Republican

Few people on this planet and perhaps only one in Canada, could have a guest list for a party at their remote country home that includes the king of Spain, Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Leo DiCaprio and Sarah Ferguson.

That Canadian is Paul Desmarais, arguably the most powerful man in Canada. Desmarais is powerful not just because he is unimaginably rich thanks to the $100 billion Power Corp. empire he built from scratch; he’s a giant because he has used his power to gain unprecedented political influence, not for any demonstrable financial gain, mind you, but simply because he enjoys playing politics as much as he likes making money.

This past weekend, in a supreme display of the influence he has accumulated in his 52 years as an operator in the business world, Desmarais summoned dozens of notables from business, politics and entertainment to his newly completed $40-million (estimated) spread in Quebec’s spectacular Charlevoix region. The guest list was kept extremely hush-hush — another testament to Desmarais’s power. The above-mentioned names were only rumored, but no matter, any one of them would fit comfortably into Desmarais’ wide circle of friends from around the world.

That circle includes the three longest-serving prime ministers of the last 35 years, Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien. Chretien’s daughter France married Andre, one of Desmarais’s two sons, making that circle a little tighter than others. Desmarais’s right-hand man at Power Corp. is John Rae, a long-time Chretien advisor and the man who ran two of the three election campaigns that brought Liberals majority governments since 1993.

Desmarais is also on pretty close terms with the prime minister-in-waiting, Paul Martin, who, after all, employed him at Power Corp. for many years. In 1981 he sold to Martin Power’s shipping line, Canada Steamship Lines, which Martin grew into the largest shipper of its kind in the world before entering politics. (Martin last month transferred ownership of CSL to his three sons to free himself for the Liberal leadership campaign which ends in November.)

A roomful of politicians have worked for Desmarais, either on their way up or down the political ladder. Daniel Johnson Jr., for example, Quebec Liberal leader and briefly premier, was Power’s corporate secretary for a time. Daniel’s dad, Daniel Sr., another Quebec premier, was a close crony of Desmarais’s.

The story is told of how Desmarais flew to Hawaii to convince the vacationing Johnson to drop a five-year plan for Quebec independence.

He was also tight with Robert Bourassa despite the premier’s efforts to block his attempt to buy a Quebec City newspaper, which he eventually acquired anyway, giving him control of most major newspapers in Quebec. He spoke to Bourassa days before he died of cancer in 1996. Bourassa, always considered a wavering federalist, told Desmarais Quebec needed to move on from the debate over sovereingty.

Desmarais’s wealth and power are enough to assure him superstar status among Canadian and global entrepreneurs. But what puts Desmarais in a category by himself is how he, a French-Canadian from the Northern Ontario mining town of Sudbury, has earned a place in a Canadian business establishment populated entirely by English-Canadians. For years he was the only French-Canadian on the boards of major Canadian companies, invited there not out of tokenism, but because of his ever-increasing financial clout.

Desmarais represents the triumph of French-Canadians within a country dominated by English-speakers, a role the 76-year-old tycoon takes seriously. While embraced by the new generations of francophone business leaders of Quebec Inc., he is no darling of Quebec nationalists. Desmarais, in fact, all but froze Montreal-based Power’s activities in Quebec after the separatist Parti Quebecois was elected in 1976.

It is only in recent years that Power has again become a major player in the domestic corporate world. Desmarais used the hiatus to put together a corporate colossus in Europe, one that includes the largest broadcasting network on the continent, one of the world’s largest oil companies, a Swiss salami company and a 12-percent share of the company that owns the Suez canal.

Paul Desmarais officially retired as president of Power Corp. in 1996, although he remains chairman of the executive committee and is majority owner. His sons, Paul Jr. and Andre, now manage the company day-to-day. Though slowed by several heart operations and normal aging, Desmarais is reported to still be the master of the empire he built.

In his semi-retirement he has overseen the construction of his estate near the Saguenay River. The project turned a hunting lodge, set on 10,000 acres of forest with five lakes, once owned by one of Desmarais’s paper companies, into a dream compound.

And that’s where Desmarais hosted his exclusive set of friends for a country-style barbecue few of them are likely to forget. Much like history is not likely to forget a giant like Desmarais.

Some of the facts and anecdotes about Desmarais in this column come from the Canadian Establishment series by author Peter C. Newman. Desmarais, Newman notes, is the only Canadian business leader to be featured in all three volumes, spanning more than 25 years.

Peter Black is a syndicated columnist writing about Quebec and the producer of a daily current-affairs program for Canada’s public radio broadcaster (CBC), based in Quebec City. His column appears every Friday. He can be reached by e-mail: pmblack@sympatico.ca

• • •

by **rbacon** » 02/ 21/ 05 11:35 am

The Family Compact.

Paul Desmarais' Web of Influence Over Canada
Desmarais reputed to have huge influence on current and past Prime Ministers

LIFESITE, May 2, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For many years, astute political observers have noted what appears to be an unusually powerful web of influence over Canadian federal politics by wealthy Canadian businessman and Power Corporation founder, Paul Desmarais senior. The number of Prime Ministers and other elected and influential Canadians financially beholden to the Quebec based Canadian nationalist is astonishing.

In an Ottawa Citizen article of May 2, 1995 columnist Paul Gessell asked “Why does Desmarais have a direct pipeline into every Prime Minister’s office, regardless of who occupies that post or what party is in power?” Following is LifeSite’s summary of the most significant elements of the Desmarais web of influence.

* Current Prime Minister Jean Chretien sat on the board of Power Corp. subsidiary Consolidated Bathurst Inc. before becoming leader of the Liberal Party. Chretien’s daughter France is married to Paul Desmarais’ son Andre. Andre was involved in Canadian power station projects in China. Chretien personally withdrew Canadian support of a UN condemnation of China’s human rights abuses after Chinese officials threatened to take power station projects away from Canadian firms. The Prime Minister's nephew, Raymond Chretien, is now Canada's Ambassador to France." Chretien's "advisor, counsellor and strategist" for the past 30 years has been Mitchel Sharp, who brought Chretien into politics when he was Finance Minister. From 1981 onwards Sharp was Vice-Chairman for North America of David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission.

* In her April 17, 2003 National Post column Diane Francis notes that Chretien heir apparent, Paul Martin, was hired in the 1960s to work for Paul Desmarais senior by Maurice Strong. In 1974, Francis writes, “Desmarais made Martin president of Canada Steamship Lines and then, in 1981, made him spectacularly rich by selling the company to him and a partner…” She follows, “It all begs a number of questions, Did Mr. Desmarais give away the company to Mr. Martin? Did Mr. Desmarais lend him the money or guarantee the loan? And what does this mean in terms of his allegiance or loyalty to Mr. Desmarais and his empire in Canada and France.”

* An August 5, 1994 Globe and Mail article noted that "Another prime minister, long-time family friend, Pierre Trudeau (now deceased), sits on Power's star-studded international advisory board."

* Ted Johnson, A former Trudeau assistant, and a friend of Chretien’s chief of staff, Eddie Goldenberg (more powerful than most MPs and even Cabinet Ministers), was vice-president, secretary and legal counsel to Power Corp.

* Michael Pitfield, the super-bureaucrat under the Trudeau government, was a vice-chairman of Power Corp and is still listed as a Director Emeritus.

* Maurice Strong became President of Power Corp by his mid-thirties. From there he became a Liberal Party bureaucrat and created the controversial, left-wing Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 1976, still under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he was appointed to run Petro Canada, the state-run oil company. This wealthy ex-Desmarais employee is an architect of the Kyoto accord and has been a powerful advocate of UN world governance and world de-population. He is an advisor to both the UN Secretary General and the president of the World Bank. With former Soviet President Michael Gorbachev he co-authored the infamous “Earth Charter” which Strong, Gorbachev and numerous prominent allies are hoping will guide a new world order based on "planetary ethics". The Charter reads like a new age ten commandments and includes language supporting abortion. Strong also supports a one world religion. See http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2000/jun/00063006.html See also http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2000/jan/00011302.html

* Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Desmarais go back at least as far as 1972. Mulroney friend Ian MacDonald described Desmarais as “Mulroney’s mentor in the business world.” Mulroney has done legal work for Desmarais since his spectacular election loss at the end of his second term as Prime Minister.

* Former Mulroney Cabinet Minister Don Mazankowski is currently Power’s company director.

* Former Ontario Conservative premiers William Davis and John Robarts sat on Power’s national advisory board.

* John Rae, the brother of former Ontario New Democratic (Socialist) Premier Bob Rae is currently listed as Power's Executive Vice-President, Office of the Chairman of the Executive Committee (Paul Desmarais).

* Former Quebec premier Daniel Johnson worked for Power from 1973 to 1981 and in the last of those three years was vice-president.

* The May 11, 1996 Toronto Star reported that “Desmarais’ worldwide political connections have resulted in an international advisory board featuring such luminaries as former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt; Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, former oil minister of Saudi Arabia, Paul Volcker, former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and former prime minister Pierre Trudeau."

* There have been indications that the fabled de Rothchild family of Europe has been playing a role in Desmarais’ international expansion. For example, the Nov. 20, 2002 Financial Post covered the opening of Sir Evelyn de Rothchild’s investment bank’s Montreal office. Quebec’s business elite were present in force, headed by – Paul Desmarais Jr.

Ottawa Citizen’s Gessell ends his column on Desmarais, “When Chretien retires and a leadership convention is held to replace him, chances are Desmarais will be on hand. Finance Minister (now former) Paul Martin (from Quebec, as were Trudeau, Mulroney and Chretien) could quite possibly be Chretien’s successor. And who taught Martin how to succeed in business? None other than his former employer, Paul Desmarais.”

See Power Corporation’s website
http://www.powercorporation.com/index.php?lang=eng

See also
Saturday Night magazine, February 1996
The Globe and Mail August 5, 1994
The Toronto Star may 11, 1996
Diane Francis in The Financial Post April 1 and April 17, 2003

by **Wlyonmackenzie** » 02/ 21/ 05 12:03 pm

When it comes to Desmarais and his little incubus Strong, that he unleashed on the world, there is only one bottom line...wealth and power..pure and simple.....and all the lofty idealism they use to obscure or justify their subversion of the free democracies and their tax payers, amounts to nothing but the hollow wishful thinking of a richman attempting to enter the realm of heavan by trying to make us believe they have forced a camel through the eye of a needle.

Here's what Moe, Paul, Jean, Powercor and Kyoto are all about:

At a World Bank Conference on sustainable development several years ago, when economist Joseph Stiglitz presented this concept, I asked him if he was basically "bringing a new company public or a stock to market" in creating this permit-trading system. He answered, "Yes," and with a very large grin said, "And we will do very well!" Within the last year, a carbon-trading market was established in Chicago.

Interestingly enough, Maurice Strong is one of its directors. Furthermore, it has been suggested that if the price of energy went up, it would encourage people to change to more efficient technologies, thus reducing carbon in the air. Can you imagine the profit insiders and interested parties would make on another oil embargo, let alone the money they will make bartering the carbon trading permits?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=28719

by **styky** » 02/ 21/ 05 1:09 pm

I Few interesting links on the workings of Maurice Strong.

http://www.hydro-gate.com/newpage41.htm

http://www.afn.org/~govern/strong.html

http://www.sovereignty.net/p/sd/strong.html

http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?t ... ice_Strong (this ones a real goodie)

http://www.saverfpi.org/article.php?sto ... 2142447673

http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/5/strong.htm

http://www.tolstoy.com/lonewacko/blog/a ... 01799.html

http://www.torontofreepress.com/2004/main073004.htm

http://www.blessedquietness.com/journal ... trong2.htm

http://www.fathersforlife.org/articles/ ... rtin_2.htm

http://www.missionoftheshroud.com/news. ... ttawa.html (this one is just a hoot)

http://www.flyourflag.ca/chronology/

by **Splendor Sine Occasu** » 02/ 21/ 05 7:27 pm

Is there a link to the Peter Black article?

by **styky** » 02/ 22/ 05 12:51 pm

Great fact finder with excellent research

http://www.davidhawkinsresearch.com/sou ... t-001.html

by **MikeEdwards** » 02/ 22/ 05 1:01 pm

by **Sam Nalley** » 02/ 22/ 05 1:25 pm

"In his semi-retirement he has overseen the construction of his estate near the Saguenay River. The project turned a hunting lodge, set on 10,000 acres of forest with five lakes, once owned by one of Desmarais’s paper companies, into a dream compound."

...ah yes, and the Feds paid to upgrade this demigod's airport, while other airports (in the west of course) fall further into disrepair while the Feds cry poor. Independence from this madness anyone?

by **Wlyonmackenzie** » 02/ 22/ 05 9:48 pm

Sam Nalley wrote:
"In his semi-retirement he has overseen the construction of his estate near the Saguenay River. The project turned a hunting lodge, set on 10,000 acres of forest with five lakes, once owned by one of Desmarais’s paper companies, into a dream compound."

...ah yes, and the Feds paid to upgrade this demigod's airport, while other airports (in the west of course) fall further into disrepair while the Feds cry poor. Independence from this madness anyone?

I understand the DNC provides security for the perimeter and it is also charted as a no fly zone for aircraft.

Like Steyn said if you wanted to make yourself immune from scrutiny of the tinfoil conspiracy crowd just call your global insider grafting network "powercor"...seems too damn obvious to be real....like a conspiracy hidden in plain sight

by **styky** » 02/ 26/ 05 4:36 pm

Wlm you're going to love this :smoke:

http://iraqrevenuewatch.org/news/index.shtml

by **rbacon** » 02/ 26/ 05 10:45 pm

Looks like the PM's Rubber Stamp GG. likes Mo Strong's evil ways as well. DEPOPULATIONIST MAURICE STRONG GETS UPGRADED ORDER OF CANADA
OTTAWA, Jan 13 (LSN.ca) - Maurice Strong, arguably one of the most influential Canadians on the international scene pushing for population control and a 'new world order', this week received the highest degree in the Order of Canada, that of a "Companion". Governor General Adrienne Clarkson made the appointment Tuesday.

As advisor to both the UN Secretary General and the president of the World Bank, Strong asserts his influence pushing for radical environmentalism which has population control as its mainstay. Strong was one of the original organizers of the system of radical UN conferences which constantly advance radical global agendas. As Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, he led the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The release from the Governor General says of Strong that he is "a guide and a catalyst for the cooperative protection of our planet and its diverse life-forms." Unfortunately, that protection for "diverse life-forms" excludes pre-born humans.

See the appointment announcement at:
http://www.gg.ca/appointments/jan2000_e.html

by **ChristianSoldier** » 02/ 26/ 05 11:05 pm

Desmarais is reputed to be a staunch Canadian federalists, so he must have dropped a brick after the last Sovereignty Referendum. Given that Powercorps many financial interests are held outside of Quebec, it is understandable why Desmarais wants to maintain a united Canada governed from a French Quebec.

If Quebecers ever voted Yes to separate, the financial interests of Powercorp outside of Quebec would take a huge beating as anything associated and controlled from Quebec would be boycotted in the rest of Canada and the US too.

A separate Quebec would become fully aligned with France and would represent a European base in North America. The power of the Desmarais' would be substantially reduced, particularily in a Quebec dependent on French aid to survive.

At present, Canada is more aligned with France than with the USA. Wasn't it Trudeau who proclaimed that Canada should be closer to Europe to reduce the influence of the Americans? What was that political philosophy enunciated by Trudeau called at that time?

The Oil-for-Food Scandal – the Canadian Connection

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