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Go Digital Canada Program Federal Government Promotes Powerful Private InterestsOn July 11, the Federal Economic Development
Agency for
Southern Ontario announced that with its "partners" it is undertaking
an initiative called "Go Digital Canada" whose purpose is said to be
"to support nearly 23,000 Ontario businesses to go digital." The
partners cited are various Ontario mayors and representatives of local
business associations and chambers of commerce, plus a manager from
Google and another from Shopify. As part of the program, the Federal
Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and the Ford Ontario
government have partnered with Shopify in a $58 million
Digital
Main Street program. "Ottawa deepens ties to Shopify with new small-retailer support program during pandemic" is a recent Globe and Mail headline. The article says, "The federal government is partnering with Shopify Inc. to help small Canadian retailers set up online stores for 90-day trials, as the governing Liberals deepen their ties to Canada's most valuable publicly traded company." Through these public-private partnerships governments promote particular private interests. Gone is any pretence of governments serving the common good and welfare of all Canadians equally. Governance through the cartel party system has come to mean, in practice, the representation and promotion in government of the most powerful private business interests and their rich owners.
The Globe writes, "Behind the scenes, [Shopify's] chief executive officer, Tobi Lutke, has been regularly advising members of the government on digital affairs, including contact-tracing technology." In fact the relationship goes beyond "advising." Shopify's general manager Sylvia Ng has been named to lead the federal government's Go Digital Canada program. Ng remarks in the Globe article that Shopify and the federal government "have a shared mutual interest and commitment to Shopify supporting the digitization of small businesses." "Shared mutual interest" indeed, as Shopify has exploded into a global multi-billion dollar business with its owners joining the ranks of Canada's richest oligarchs. The Globe writes, "The federal lobbyist registry shows that Shopify has lobbied the federal government 27 times since 2017, with 22 of the instances in the past six months" with federal ministers regularly meeting the company's leaders. "Shopify representatives met with both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and [federal Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion] Mary Ng [no relation to Sylvia Ng] in early May, records show. They have also had separate meetings with chiefs of staff for Mr. Trudeau and [Minister] Ng since the pandemic began. [Shopify CEO] Lutke chaired the government's economic strategy table on digital industries in 2017.... Shopify has hosted Mr. Trudeau, Minister Ng and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains at its offices for various events in recent years, and Mr. Trudeau spoke with Mr. Lutke onstage at the company's annual Unite conference in 2018." The Globe says Ryan Nearing, a spokesperson for Minister Ng told the newspaper that the government partnership and connection with Shopify "builds our relationship with industry -- working collaboratively with the private sector on initiatives that will help Canadian entrepreneurs succeed."
The situation boils down to the necessity for political renewal. The working people are organizing and fighting in opposition to this striving of the rich and their political representatives to control everything. People are speaking out against the takeover of governments by rich oligarchs. The battle for democracy is on and all these measures to serve and pay the rich must be rescinded. The battle of democracy requires that working people vest decision-making power in themselves with new political forms and the fundamental aim to guarantee the well-being and security of all. The battle has begun with demands to Stop paying the rich! and Stop serving their narrow private interests! The time is now to move on to an alternative with increased investments in social programs, public services and public enterprise with working people in control. The time is now for political institutions that ban private interests from usurping power and overwhelming the public interest. It can be done! It must be done!
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
The
government rationale in partnering with Shopify is that the company's
ecommerce platform already exists for retailers to buy and use and no
alternative public infrastructure at nominal cost is possible. People
should say 
As private
interests seize control of governments, the public interest and common
good become overwhelmed and suppressed. The narrow private interests of
the most powerful oligarchs become the cornerstone of government
policy. No discussion of an alternative can be found in the halls of
power as the political system itself blocks the working people from
representing themselves and giving their views on the direction of the
country's economic and political affairs and taking actions that favour
their interests.