Truly there are times when a picture seems worth a thousand words. Consider the illustration by Eugen Mihaescu (on page 2). This image of the portly but faceless capitalist, replete with bowler hat, greatcoat, and walking stick, was published in 1971 in theNew York Times.But it is the activity in the foreground that draws our attention, for it is here that the archetypal magnate unfolds literally into a series of layered platforms, where smaller capitalists can be found. Some appear in isolation, while others are clustered in groups. This image captures, in a simple yet compelling way, the...

For the pulp and paper industry, the twentieth century closed with an extended wave of corporate mergers and acquisitions. In Scandinavia, in North America, and on a trans-Atlantic basis, leading firms looked to takeovers as the favoured growth strategy. Canada was at the forefront of this process.

The billion-dollar deals began in 1996 when Montreal-based Donahue bought control of Quno for $1.4b. The following year, Canadian and world newsprint giant Abitibi purchased Stone Consolidated of Chicago ($4.4b), while Domtar took over E.B. Eddy ($1b). In 1998, the US Bowater Corp. purchased Avenor (formerly CP Forest Industries) for $2.4b, becoming North...

For the steel industry it might be said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This was the paradox of steel politics at the close of the twentieth century after the massive structural changes that had taken place in the decades following 1970. The open hearth furnaces that had dominated big steel production for more than a century were phased out in North America. The mini-mill (electric arc) steelmakers, which first emerged on the lower-value commodity fringe of the industry, rose to virtual parity with the integrated US producers, invaded the high-end sectors of flat-rolled steel,...

The final and most momentous air policy decision of the 1990s was Ottawa’s approval of Air Canada’s takeover of its long-time rival, Canadian Airlines International (CAI). This brought to an end almost 70 years of business and political rivalry between two powerful corporate empires. It also re-established a degree of single-firm dominance not seen in air transport for half a century.

However, this was no simple case of “back to the future.” Both the corporate players and the policy context had changed dramatically. Air Canada was no longer a state enterprise or Ottawa’s favoured instrument for nation-building. By the year...

Our goal in this book has been to explore Canadian business politics at the microlevel. We began by posing certain questions about how and where the interests of markets and states coalesced. Despite the dramatic transformations of both economic and governmental structures over the past half-century, these questions have lost none of their relevance in contemporary life. Business-government relations remain a central context for modern management and policy-making. The search for corporate political advantage takes place alongside, but distinct from, the pursuit of commercial advantage.

The politics of business power cannot be simply inferred from market structures or commercial chains....

A striking theme, which permeates all of the chapters above, has been the need to recognize the complex and deep-seated forces that can drive political change within firms and industry groups. This reality presents both problems and opportunities for a book of this sort. One problem stems from the desire to keep current. Decades ago, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson remarked insightfully that a week is a long time in politics. With apologies to Wilson, we might say that a year can be a lifetime in the micropolitics of business. The Chrétien era of federal leadership gave way, in December...