Declan McCullagh on 26 Sep 2000 03:58:37 -0000 |
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<nettime> FC: How Canadian politicos schmooze with tech types, from Nat'lPost |
[orig To: <politech@politechbot.com>] > [I'm not so sure the dynamic is geeks meeting with politicos, but > geeks-turned-businessmen meeting with politicos. (True geeks have more > interesting things to do.) And aside from some vaguely libertarian > sensibilities -- probably from reading Heinlein as youths -- I'm not sure > that geek businessmen, as a class, are significantly different from other > businessmen who have identical responsibilities to investors and > shareholders. Still, an interesting piece. --Declan] > > ********** > > Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 09:07:51 -0400 > Subject: Canadian politics and tech > From: David Akin <dakin@nationalpost.com> > To: <declan@well.com> > > Hi Declan -- > > Something of interest for the Politech crowd . . > > [While US technology leaders have been active -- and in many cases, overtly > so -- in federal politics there, the dot-com crowd in Canada, and elsewhere, > I suspect, is still largely apolitical and disconnected from politicss. But, > as I wrote in our paper this weekend, some of Canada's senior politicians > are keen to add a little dot-com lustre to their own images and are reaching > out to young tech leaders. I'd love to hear from those in other countries > about the relationship between geeks and politicians - Akin] > > > The birth of digital politics > Some of Ottawa's savviest politicians are ardently pursuing a new breed of > New Economy power brokers > > When historians record a remarkable shift in Canadian political power that > is now under way, their research will lead them to a quiet, unpublicized > dinner at Ottawa's Rideau Club in May. > > The host was Paul Martin, the Finance Minister, who, at 64, hungers to be > the next prime minister. His guests were young leaders of technology > companies, as well as an investment banker who has financed some of the > country's best-known Internet plays. > > Remarkably perhaps, the issue of taxes was hardly mentioned. Instead, Mr. > Martin and representatives of Canada's new generation of business leaders > discussed health care, education and Canada's attitude about its place in > the world. It could have been a conversation that took place at any Canadian > dinner table except for one thing: Mr. Martin had launched a determined > campaign to court a small handful of men at the forefront of Canada's > digital revolution. > > Some of his guests were flattered by the dinner invitation, but as they are > pursued by everyone from Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, to Brian Tobin, > the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, they are beginning to realize > their clout in the New Economy translates readily into real political power. > Indeed, Canada's technology leaders may soon realize their influence among > the political class equals or surpasses that of yesterday's generation of > business leaders -- the bank chairmen, oil barons and well-connected > lobbyists. > > Gathered around the table for that dinner with Mr. Martin were Austin Hill, > the 27-year-old millionaire president of Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc. of > Montreal; Philip Deck, 37, chairman of Certicom Inc., Ken Nickerson, 39, > former general manager of Microsoft Network Canada and now a successful > angel investor; Ken Rotman, co-chief executive of Clairvest Group Inc., > Scott Paterson, 36, chairman of Yorkton Securities Inc., an investment bank > closely associated with the New Economy, and others. > .... > [Full story at > http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/story.html?f=/stories/20000923/407 > 563.html ] > > -- > David Akin / Senior technology reporter / dakin@nationalpost.com > National Post / http://www.nationalpost.com > 300-1450 Don Mills Road / Don Mills / Ontario / CANADA / M3B 3R5 > VOX: 416.383.2372 / FAX: 416.383.2443 / SWITCH: 416.383.2300 > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology > You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. > To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html > This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net