Secretive group's departure as low-key as arrival - Monday, June 12, 2006
mevle...@yahoo.ca
Small group of protesters watches as annual meeting comes to an end
Tom Spears, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, June 12, 2006
Four days after they arrived quietly at a Kanata hotel, the world's
rich and powerful left just as mysteriously, in limos and SUVs with
blacked-out windows.
The Bilderberg Group, a secretive organization of politicians and
business leaders from around the world, gave no public statements.
With private security guards and metal barriers keeping outsiders on
the street, the Bilderbergers met privately and then whisked themselves
away in ones and twos, mostly to the airport.
What they talked about at the Brookstreet Hotel is still a secret. The
group meets annually, and is usually rumoured to discuss international
politics and business, from Middle East crises to oil prices.
They emerged singly yesterday -- Bilderberg president Etienne Davignon
of Belgium, American David Rockefeller, Italian economist Mario Monti,
European competition commissioner Neelie Kroes from the Netherlands,
and, watchers thought, Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi.
Protesters on the sidewalk have their own version of the agenda: world
domination, a merger of Canada with the United States and Mexico,
hiding the cure for cancer, suppression of cars that get 200 miles per
gallon of fuel, an invasion of Iran, and slavery for the common people
of all countries.
About a dozen protesters stood outside yesterday, slightly fewer than
on Saturday. Two police officers watched from across the street while
others were inside the hotel.
They carried signs protesting the "NWO" (new world order) and
denouncing the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as "an inside job."
"When you've got this many high rollers in one place, then there's a
story," said Geoff Matthews, editor and publisher of a small newspaper
called the Kingston Eye Opener.
"In my opinion, what they started to plan about 10 years ago is the
unification of North America without the consent of the people. It's
now in fast-forward."
The meetings always draw intensely curious outsiders who believe the
Bilderbergers need to be exposed. One of these is Daniel Estulin, a
Canadian who moved to Spain about 15 years ago -- because, he says, the
Central Intelligence Agency tried to kill him. He feels safer in Spain.
"I'm much further out of the reach of the secret service -- both
Canadian and American."
"I write the stories everyone else is afraid to write," he said.
He and others staked out positions on the sidewalk where they could get
a clear view of the hotel's front door.
For hours, they watched through binoculars and telephoto lenses,
waiting as men and women got into limos. Cameras clicked, and the
Bilderberg-watchers scrolled through digital images afterwards, trying
to identify which member of the group they had just recorded.
Alex Jones, a documentary filmmaker from Texas, showed up with two of
his crew.
"Man, this is just evil," he muttered as he paced up and down, watching
more limos drive past. He was detained on his arrival in Canada, but
says he was released after other media asked questions about him.
"It's a group of very powerful individuals whose objective is to create
one world government, based on an economic model from the Middle Ages,"
he said. This would be "a post-industrial model where you have slaves
and slave owners."
He claimed to have Bilderberg insiders feeding him information.
Protester J. P. Arial of Ottawa was there for the fourth straight day.
"They're ruining our planet. They're suppressing free energy,
controlling the food industry. They're forcing farmers to switch to
genetically modified seeds," he said. "They want to control everyone.
No freedom, no democracy."
But most of Kanata took no notice of the black cars running in and out
between the computer companies, past the lineup at Tim Hortons on March
Road, and off to the airport.
- - -
Andrzej Olechowski
is a former minister of foreign affairs and finance in his native
Poland, where he has frequently been involved in politics since the
1990s. He ran unsuccessfully in the 2000 presidential election and
Warsaw's 2002 mayoral race. Mr. Olechowski was a founding member of the
centrist Civic Platform party, and is currently a member of the
supervisory boards of Vivendi Universal, Citibank Handlowy and PKN
Orlen.
Egil Myklebust
served as president and CEO of Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian oil and gas
group that is one of that countries biggest companies, between 1991 and
2001. He then served as Norsk's chairman until 2004 and was also a
member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. While
he is a well-known face in the world's oil and gas industry, Mr.
Myklebust is currently chairman of Scandinavian Airlines.
Robert Zoellick
now reports to Condoleeza Rice as the U.S. deputy secretary of state,
after serving as the U.S. trade representative from 2001 to 2005. A
lawyer, Mr. Zoellick has worked in economic and diplomatic policy
development in different Republican administrations for more than two
decades. He has a strong reputation for hammering out international
trade deals; he played a key role in sealing NAFTA and has been an
important player in World Trade Organization talks.
James B. Steinberg
is best known for his work as deputy national security adviser to U.S.
president Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2000. After working in government,
Mr. Steinberg went on to direct foreign policy studies at the Brookings
Institution in Washington and is now the dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a
frequent media commentator on U.S. foreign policy and has written
several books on national security topics.
Juan Luis Cebrian
is the CEO of the Spanish media conglomerate Grupa Prisa, which owns El
Pais, a centre-left daily that is the country's leading newspaper. Mr.
Cebrian is a former editor at El Pais and has also served as chairman
of the International Press Institute. He is also an acclaimed author of
books such as Red Doll and the essay collection, The Press and Main
Street.
Mario Monti
dubbed "Super Mario" by the press, is an Italian economist, president
of Bocconi University in Milan and chairman of the European think-tank
Bruegel. He has most notably served on the European Commission, where
he was sometimes called an antitrust czar. Mr. Monti fought against a
proposed merger between General Electric and Honeywell in 2001. The
European Union eventually blocked that merger, earning criticism from
U.S. regulators.
Jean-Pierre Hansen
is CEO of energy giants Electrabel, Belgium's top power producer, and
Suez-Tractebel, Belgium's top utility holding company and one of the
world's biggest independent power producers. Mr. Hansen holds advanced
degrees in engineering and economics and has worked in the electricity
and gas sectors since the 1970s.
Neelie Kroes
is a veteran Dutch politician and businesswoman who has served as
European Commissioner for Competition since 2004. Ms. Kroes'
appointment to the position was met with some controversy, due to her
extensive business contacts. Since assuming her post, Ms. Kroes has
been in the middle of Microsoft's on-going dispute with the EU over a
2004 antitrust ruling against the company. Ms. Kroes has also been a
staunch ally of controversial Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Franco Bernabe
is vice-chairman of the European investment bank Rothschild Europe,
former CEO of the Italian energy giant ENI and a board member of
Petro-China. Mr. Bernabe headed ENI's privatization process in the
early 90s and was recently quoted as saying the world oil industry
remains "uneasy" with the feverish development of Alberta's oilsands
near Fort McMurray. Mr. Bernabe also worked as a chief economist at
Fiat, and started his career as an academic at Turin University.
David Rockefeller
is founder of the Trilateral Commission, formed in 1973 by citizens of
Japan, European Union countries, the U.S. and Canada with the goal of
fostering closer co-operation among those regions. Mr. Rockefeller, who
has a PhD from the University of Chicago, spent 35 years as an officer
of the Chase Manhattan Bank and was chairman and CEO from 1969 to 1980.
He serves as honorary chairman of the Americas Society, the Council on
Foreign Relations and Rockefeller University.
Frank McKenna
served as Canada's ambassador to the U.S. under prime minister Paul
Martin. When Mr. Martin lost the election, Mr. McKenna returned to
private life, quickly quelling rumours he would run for the Liberal
party leadership. Before his U.S. stint, Mr. McKenna practised law and
served on numerous corporate boards. He became New Brunswick's premier
in 1987, winning every seat. He served for a decade and created a call
centre industry in the resource-based province.
Jorma Ollila
served as chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation for 14 years, from 1992
until this month when he became non-executive chairman of Royal Dutch
Shell while hanging on to his Nokia association, also as non-executive
chairman. He is the first non-Dutch, non-Briton to head Shell. He took
Nokia from a cellphone company on the brink of takeover to the world's
most successful. The Finn is a member of the board of directors of Ford
Motor Company, and UPM-Kymmene.
Queen Beatrix
of the Netherlands became queen in 1980 when her mother, Juliana,
abdicated. Ottawa is not new to the queen, who moved to the capital in
the 1940s, and lived in Stornoway. She went to Rockcliffe Park Public
School and her sister, Princess Margriet, was born in Canada. Queen
Beatrix, who has a degree in law, married Claus von Amsberg, a German
diplomat, in 1966.
Richard Perle
was assistant secretary of defence to U.S. president Ronald Reagan and
is still considered influential in the U.S., having advised President
George W. Bush. Mr. Perle served as chairman of the Defence Policy
Board from 2001-2003 and was assistant secretary of defence for
international security policy from 1981 to 1987. His opinions appear
regularly in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and London's Daily
Telegraph.
JAMES WOLFENSOHN
as president of the World Bank, walks the fine line between being a
banker and an advocate for the world's poor. Born in Australia, he
ended up on Wall Street via London, eventually founding a banking firm
with former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Paul Volker. Today, he is
credited with working to return the World Bank to its original mandate
of relieving poverty.
Etienne Davignon
is a former Belgian politician and president of the annual Bilderberg
conference. Mr. Davignon was born in Hungary and quickly established a
name for himself in business and politics. He was the first president
of the International Energy Agency from 1974-77 and at the age of 32,
he became head of cabinet. Between 1977 and 1985, he was an influential
member of the European Commission. In 1989, he joined the board of the
Societe Generale de Belgique.
John Vinocur
is a senior correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and
reports on everything from politics to sports. He went to the Tribune
from the New York Times, where he was metropolitan editor. He served as
the Times bureau chief in France and Germany. He went to the Tribune as
executive editor and served as the newspaper's vice- president from
1986-96. He writes for Foreign Affairs and the New York Times Magazine.
Adrian Wooldridge
is the Economist's Washington bureau chief. Prior to this, he was the
magazine's west coast correspondent, and also held positions as its
management correspondent and its correspondent in Britain. He co-wrote
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea, and A Future
Perfect: The Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalisation, Witch
Doctors, and The Right Nation, a look at American conservatism.
Vernon Jordan
A Washington insider, Mr. Jordan chaired the Clinton transition team in
1992. He started his public life through the civil rights movement in
the 1960s, working for the NAACP, and served as executive director of
the United Negro College Fund and National Urban League in the 1970s.
The lawyer is a managing director with the investment banking firm
Lazard Freres & Co. LLC and is on several boards, including American
Express and Dow Jones & Company.
Tony Comper
has been chief executive officer of BMO Financial Group since 1999. In
his three decades with BMO, he served as chairman from 1999 to 2004,
when the company moved to a non-executive chairman model. He first
signed on with the bank in 1967, after completing a BA in English. Mr.
Comper is a member of the board of directors of the International
Monetary Conference and vice-chairman of the C.D. Howe Institute.
Dermot Gleeson
chairman of Allied Irish Banks, is a lawyer. He is a member of the
Royal Irish Academy and chairman of the Irish Council for Bioethics and
is the former attorney general of Ireland. He also served as a member
of the Council of State for Ireland and as then-Irish prime minister
John Bruton's chief legal adviser from 1994-97. He joined the board of
Allied Irish Banks in 2000 and was appointed chairman in 2003.