The Hidden Establishment: The Inside Story of Canada's International Business Elite

Robert W. Sexty is a commerce professor at the Memorial University of
Newfoundland and author of Canadian Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

The word “establishment” in this book’s title suggests that an
elite group or class possesses power and is in control. The book is
about new immigrants to Canada who either came with wealth, or acquired
it after their arrival. The book does not adequately document the power
or control, and is about only a portion of Canada’s international
business elite.

The author, a senior business writer at The Globe & Mail, uses ten
chapters to describe the new immigrants. The first two chapters examine
particularly successful newcomers, James Ting and Alex Chan, and several
chapters identify Japanese, other Asians, and Europeans who have
established themselves in this country. Three chapters focus on
particular types of immigrants: wanderers (persons who lived in several
countries prior to choosing Canada); escape artists (those who fled
oppressive regimes); and inheritors (the children of wealthy foreigners
who are sent to Canada).

A final chapter is entitled “Conclusion,” but contains few
deductions from the previous nine chapters, leaving readers to draw
their own conclusions about the supposed establishment and its business
elite.