The ugly corporate Canadians http://socialist.ca/socialistworker/SW2011/issue529/FEA-Ugly_corporate_Canadians.html

A crucial question is being overlooked as the revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East play out: who has armed and materially supported the dictators so eager to attack their own people.The answer is two-fold. First, it is the governments of the West, led by the US, who have kept monsters like Mubarak, Gaddafi and the House of Saud in power for decades. But these governments, including Canadian governments led by both Liberals and Tories, open the way for corporate interests to operate and profit from the oppression and death of the people.

As the spotlight turned to Libya, we learned that SNC Lavalin, a major Canadian corporation, was building a new prison for Gaddafi in Tripoli. Unlike many of its international projects, this job was not heralded with a press release or stories in the business press.

When the story broke, and many questioned why a Canadian corporation would take on such a project for a thug like Gaddafi, SNC Lavalin tried to portray it as a kinder, gentler prison. According to SNC Lavalin spin, the Guryan Prison, being built for a reported $275 million (US), is “the country’s first to be built according to international human rights standards. We think this is an important step forward for this country and an opportunity for us as a company to share values that we think are essential to all citizens of the world.”