Defending rights from corporate power
By Richard Girard
On April 24, 2013, an eight-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring thousands of others. The victims, mostly women, worked in factories owned by a number of companies (New Wave Bottoms, Phantom, Ether Tex) that make clothing for high-profile retailers, including Walmart, Loblaw, Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Mango, Matalan and Primark. In response to the collapse, survivors and outraged Bangladeshis, and global civil society and labour groups, among many others, demanded justice for the killed garment workers.
Read moreBig Oil’s Oily Grasp
The making of Canada as a Petro-State and how oil money is corrupting Canadian politics
December 4, 2012 Ottawa – A new report entitled “Big Oil’s Oily Grasp - The making of Canada as a Petro-State and how oil money is corrupting Canadian politics” released today by the Ottawa-based Polaris Institute found that six main oil industry players, including Enbridge and TransCanada, met with federal cabinet ministers 53 times between September 2011 and September 2012, the period when the business-friendly Bill C-38 – which guts environmental legislation - was being designed. During this same time period, only one meeting between a federal cabinet minister and an environmental organization took place (Greenpeace met with Joe Oliver in March, 2012).
Read moreProtect the Commons, Not the Banks!
Text & reflection co-authored by Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute about how the recent Rio+20 and G20 pose a strategic challenge to social movements and civil society groups regarding the economic and environmental future of the world.
Uncle Slim: The World's Richest Man
We've all heard about Uncle Sam but now it's time to learn about Uncle Slim. In a world of rising inequalities between rich and poor, Mexico is one of the most unjust countries—a place where a small political and economic elite controls much of the power while more than half the population lives in poverty. The main protagonist in this club of power brokers is Carlos Slim Helú who, according to Forbes Magazine’s annual rankings, is the world’s wealthiest person.
Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity
The Polaris Institute has been a key member of the The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity since it was launched in 2012. The campaign aims to provide a global structural response to the unaccountable power of Transnational Corporations by bringing together existing campaigns and networks to build collective systemic responses to corporate power and advance the Peoples’ solutions.