Vox pop: What do New Brunswickers think about corporate power?

Do corporations have too much power over government, or is it the other way around?

That question represents a major fault line in politics, with people on the left maintaining that governments have become captured by corporate interests, while people on the right typically argue that the state should get out of the way of business.

The NB Media Co-op put that question to shoppers at the Moncton Market on Saturday. Over the course of an hour, several people agreed to share their thoughts on camera.

“I think for citizens to be properly taken care of, corporations need to be taxed higher,” said one market goer, a psychotherapist who works in the Moncton region. “That money should be contributing to social services,” she said. “I think our government shouldn’t be for sale.”

Major corporations like those owned by the billionaire Irving family get too many tax breaks, and they should contribute more to the public good, she said. “I really believe in wellness and social programs,” she said.

One man remarked that Canada needs to get “get rid of the Chinese Liberal Party,” a reference to allegations of foreign interference in the political system. (In January, a public inquiry concluded that it found no evidence of “traitors” in Parliament, MPs working for foreign governments, or that any legislation came into effect due to foreign meddling.)

The market-goer waxed nostalgic about happy memories from his childhood, when prices were lower. “I went to the store with my grandmother when I was six years old, and got a gallon of gas for a quarter,” he said.

“I could go to the store with 50 cents, get a bag of chips, a bottle of pop, and penny candy, and still have change,” said the man, who is originally from Chipman. “You can’t do nothing with 50 cents these days.”

Asked who is responsible for inflation, he said: “the government.” What about corporations? “They buy the government.”

A man from Moncton who now lives in Thunder Bay reflected that it’s a “chicken and egg sort of thing.”

There’s too much corporate influence over government, he said, but the people capable of changing that relationship are in government. “You can’t trust them if they’re taking corporate money,” he said.

(Corporations are banned from donating to political parties federally and in New Brunswick. However, individuals are allowed to donate, and contributions from business executives surged after New Brunswick’s ban was implemented in 2017. The latest provincial election was also noted for an explosion of donations from out-of-province, including from business executives.)

A busker paused from juggling lemons to denounce the multinational Walmart and the concept of corporate personhood, among other themes. “Walmart is not a person, it shouldn’t own property, it shouldn’t have anything — it doesn’t have a soul to save,” he said.

Some people said corporate power had gone too far but wouldn’t to go on the record. Others declined to comment because they work for corporations.

This video report includes an interview with journalist and author Nora Loreto about her new book, titled Corporate Control. The book, published by Durdurn Press, was released on Tuesday.

-With files from Ryan Hillier

David Gordon Koch is a staff reporter with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).