Nightmare on Bay Street.

This article examines UBC law professor Joel Bakan's explanation of the corporation as an institution. According to Bakan corporations are motivated purely by self-interest because its directors are legally required to do only what's best for the company, regardless of the harm. In law, a corporation is treated like an individual, because owners and shareholders aren't liable for its actions. Nike's sweatshops, Enron's fraudulent accounting--Bakan says they're evidence of corporate "persons" unable to experience guilt or respect the law. This month, a three-hour documentary titled The Corporation, which Bakan wrote, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.Next spring, Viking Canada will publish Bakan's book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. Ironically, The Corporation was made in part with corporate money--a $100,000 grant from Rogers Communications which publishes Canadian Business.