In the movie Killing Them Softly, the lead character, played by Brad Pitt, offers the insight that "America is not a country, it's business."
The same could certainly be said of Canada, even before the revelations of industrial espionage carried out on behalf of Canadian mining interests in Brazil by our national spy agency, Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC).
After all, the divide between the corporate boardroom and a democratically elected government like Canada's gets pretty grey at some levels.
Corporate executives hold their jobs at the behest of those shareholders who bother to vote, just as a democracy is supposedly controlled by its putative shareholders: the country's citizens ... those who bother to vote, that is.
Of course, in an ideal democracy, everyone, rich or poor, is an equal partner at the ballot box. In the corporate structure, on the other hand, those who have more money - or control more shares - have a greater say when a vote is taken.
More importantly - and this is where the line between business and the business of government tends to get cloudy - a country's prime assets are its people, and their well-being is the reason for the government's existence, while in a corporation, people are just assets - and money is the ultimate goal.
That distinction appears to have been lost almost entirely in Canada's governance of late.
Only science that bears financial fruit is allowed relevance. Research that dares to question the validity of the corporate view of economics is stamped out.
Human rights are those that do not stand in the way of monetary gain.
And now, as apparently clarified by goings-on in Brazil, even our spies have identified the national interest of Canada to be congruent with the financial interests of our corporations.
When it's only money that does the talking, it's strictly business.
