Is big biz deserting Harper?

Although Manley was a veteran Liberal (albeit from the conservative side of the party) before leaving public life, he has been held in high regard by the current government. As the president of the Council of Chief Executives, he is probably the most influential lobbyist in Ottawa just as the organization he represents can always count on the ear of the government.

In his speech, Manley was very polite and friendly in tone. But his messages were pointed just the same. He said that, although the government has been enthusiastically encouraging Canadians to start their own businesses, it has not been so keen on helping small businesses become large businesses because of a built-in bias in taxation and economic policies. He also complained that nothing is being done about Canada’s chronic productivity problem.

By and large, the council has been supportive of the Harper government. If there have been serious disagreements, they have been raised in private.

The council is, after all, a leading member of the cultural hegemony of national organizations that quietly work with the government on a day-to-day basis to run the country’s policy infrastructure.

In return for influence and access, organizations such as the council, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Agriculture can be counted on to support the government without being prodded.

Hegemonies generally support whomever is in power in return for influence. That is, after all, the business they are in. Every government and empire has to have one. In Canada the hegemony is called the “policy elite.”

Italian politician and political theorist Antonio Gramsci developed the theory of cultural hegemony, in which a leading social class can manipulate the values of an entire society through its access to power.

In another unusual development, one of the prime minister’s three former chiefs of staff tore a strip off the Harper government for being excessively secretive.

Guy Giorno, Harper’s chief of staff from 2008 to 2011 and chairman of the Conservative campaign in the 2011 election, said there should be enforcement of a law that prohibits destruction of government documents. The information commissioner should have more power to order disclosure of government information, he added.

Giorno, now a partner with the law firm of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, makes a nice living explaining lobbying and information laws to corporate audiences. He is very much part of our ruling hegemony.

Some might accuse Giorno of abandoning ship now that the Prime Minister’s Office he once ran is knee-deep in controversy. But Giorno was critical of the Harper government’s policies on transparency and conduct before he became the lead hand in that office.

In addition, another former insider, Jim Prentice, has just attacked the government’s foreign investment rules, saying they are costing this country badly-needed investment.

There are other cracks in the current hegemony. Recently, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was able to announce that Ontario and British Columbia have agreed to join Ottawa to form a national securities regulator.

Given that such a national regulator has been argued about since 1934 and several governments have tried to create one over the provinces’ objections, Flaherty can rightfully claim credit for a tremendous achievement.

Many leading members of the hegemony, including Manley, had been demanding a national securities commission for years. Yet, their reaction was so muted it barely lasted one news cycle.

It’s too early to write off the Harper government. Stephen Harper has made a practice of defying the rules and still thriving.

But it is clear his government is not only losing the automatic support of the country’s leading influencers, they are saying so in public. That is a sign of trouble for any government, Harper’s included.

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