TORONTO, October 31, 2001 -- Ralph Nader, the crusading U.S. attorney whose public advocacy has brought us safer vehicles, more sanitary food production, greater access to government information, and many more of the consumer protections we now take for granted, will speak at York University on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. on The Corporatization of North America: the Challenge to Democracy.
A household name for more than 30 years of fighting for the public interest, Nader first came to prominence in the United States in 1965 with his book Unsafe at Any Speed, an indictment of unsafe vehicle design in the North American auto industry that led to major improvements in automobile safety laws. He subsequently built a national network of U.S. citizens groups that have had a major impact in areas ranging from tax reform to nuclear energy to health and safety programs.
"You’ve got to keep the pressure on, even if you lose," Nader has said. "The essence of the citizens’ movement is persistence." Nader was the Green Party candidate for President in the last U.S. election, and has just completed a book on the experience titled, Crashing the Party. He is currently concerned with what he calls the growing "imperialism" of multinational corporations and a dangerous convergence of corporate and government power. He says the merger of corporate and government interests is escalating with treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. A magazine Nader founded in 1980, the Multinational Monitor, tracks the global reach of multinational corporations and their effect on developing nations, labour, and the environment.
In 1992, Nader co-authored with Nadia Milleron and Duff Conacher, Canada Firsts (McClelland & Stewart), a compilation of all the things that Canadians did first, ranging from the discovery of insulin to the invention of instant mashed potatoes. Proceeds from the book were used to launch the citizen advocacy group, Democracy Watch in Canada. Nader also helped establish the PIRGs – Public Interest Research Groups – student-funded and controlled organizations on college campuses in the United States and Canada that have published ground-breaking reports and guides, lobbied for legal reforms, and called the media’s attention to environmental and energy problems. The largest of the Nader organizations is Public Citizen, founded in1971, whose membership now exceeds 100,000.
Nader’s original research organization is the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Study of Responsive Law, which has produced reports on a wide range of subjects such as food safety, pensions, corporate welfare, and government procurement. Other Nader-inspired groups in the United States include the Aviation Consumer Action Project, Center for Auto Safety, Clean Water Action Project, Disability Rights Center, Pension Rights Center, Freedom of Information Clearinghouse, and the Congressional Accountability Project.
Nader will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Burton Auditorium, Keele campus, York University, 4700 Keele St. The visit is sponsored by the York University Faculty Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, local 3903.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. David Noble | Prof. Lorna Erwin | Susan Bigelow |
| Dept. of Political Science | Dept. of Sociology | Media Relations |
| York University | York University | York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 30126 | 416-736-2100, ext. 55014 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 |
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