The president and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Thomas d’Aquino will step down a year from now, it was announced last week by CCCE Chairman Gordon Nixon of the Royal Bank. D’Aquino initiated so much public policy in the last 27 years that he was dubbed: "de facto prime minister," by CCPA Monitor editor Ed Finn.

Once known as the Business Council on National Issues or BCNI, the CCCE touts itself as "composed of 150 chief executives… that collectively administer $3.5 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of more than $800 billion, and are responsible for the vast majority of Canada’s exports, investment, research and development and training." This nonchalant assertion, sort of "we’re bigger than anybody else, so pay attention, or else" captures its influence, which is political, not just economic.

Even if you would have trouble finding its role accurately depicted in a political science text, and even though the announcement its president was leaving rated only a short mention in the Report on Business, in reality, d’Aquino, and his organization have had more to do with what Canada is today than any government, or any prime minister since Pierre Trudeau (d’Aquino was once special assistant in Trudeau’s PMO).

The policies developed by the BCNI on foreign investment, free trade, deficit reduction, privatization, de-regulation, inflation fighting, subsidies to business, and smaller government were adopted faithfully by the Mulroney Conservatives in 1984, and have guided successive governments ever since, Liberal or Conservative.

The BCNI liked to work top down, get the policies it wanted in place, then create a retrospective consensus through research, public relations campaigns in the media, and direct lobbying of opinion and decision makers. For this to work it needed a sympathetic government in office. If it did not have one in place, it would develop one.

The CCCE was established as the BCNI under the leadership of William Twaits (CEO Imperial Oil) in 1976 when world oil prices had gone from $3 a barrel to $12, and were on their way to $36. The Liberals under Trudeau had formed a minority government supported by the NDP. That informal alliance, not quite a coalition, had brought in a national energy policy, and created a national oil company, not ideas Imperial oil liked much.

Trudeau scared business leaders, he read John Kenneth Galbraith approvingly, and not only had past links to the NDP, he was willing to work with them. Worse, Trudeau seemed to have a mind of his own, and there was no telling what he might do with a majority government.

The old policy of business paying the bills for the two old parties, and lobbying the leadership in private, was found wanting. If business could not dictate what it wanted to Trudeau, then a new muscular organization would have to be built: to create a climate of opinion no government could ignore.

The 1981 recession coincided with the arrival of d’Aquino as chief political strategist for big business. In the aftermath of the recession the Liberals established a Royal commission headed by one-time Finance Minister Donald Macdonald to tell government what to do next. Reporting in 1985, the Macdonald Commission agreed to jettison the postwar economic policy of building a weak welfare state, and d’Aquino and the BCNI stepped in with its own policy agenda, which Macdonald obligingly adopted as his own, as did Mulroney, already in office.

Though Mulroney had opposed free trade in his successful leadership bid, he was ready to run with free trade, the d’Aquino BCNI policy centerpiece. Big business repaid the favour by backing the Conservatives and throwing everything they could at Liberal leader John Turner in the free trade election of 1988. Liberals since have heeded the lesson: respect the wishes of the BCNI/CCCE, or face the consequences.

Most of what Canadians take for granted, the vote, pensions, minimum wage, health care, public education, unemployment benefits, welfare, health and safety regulations came out of political struggles led by trade unionists, and systematically opposed by business lobby groups such as the Chamber of Commerce with its cross Canada organization.

The BCNI/CCCE helped create a new balance of political forces in Canada. Through privileged access to corporate media, and orchestration of public debate, the CCCE has dominated parliamentary government.

The extra-parliamentary opposition has long recognized the reach of d’Aquino but has not often been able to nullify his impact.

With the economic forces d’Aquino helped set loose landing with a thud on our heads, the reign of the CCCE is about to end, just as he leaves. But it will take a renewal of public life, and a government ready to look elsewhere than the CCCE for direction, before his influence will disappear.

Duncan Cameron

Duncan Cameron

Born in Victoria B.C. in 1944, Duncan now lives in Vancouver. Following graduation from the University of Alberta he joined the Department of Finance (Ottawa) in 1966 and was financial advisor to the...