Following Robert Amsterdam’s speech at the Economic Club of Toronto last week, there has been some significant media coverage (see the CBC segment regarding Petro-Canada and Gazprom). One of the more extensive pieces covering the speech was just published today in Canadian Business by Jeff Sanford.

In Russia, a deal with the devil By Jeff Sanford Canadian Business Online, February 4, 2008 Robert Amsterdam, the London-based Canadian-born lawyer of imprisoned Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, returned to his home country last week and blasted Canadian political leaders and businessmen who insist on doing business with the corrupt regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a speech to Toronto’s National Club — an institution founded shortly after Confederation for businessmen who considered themselves part of the “Canada First” movement — Amsterdam was unstinting in his criticism of those in league with state-owned, Kremlin-controlled companies like oil and gas giant Gazprom. “It’s distasteful to see Canadian politicians and companies having dealings with these people. They are selling out Canadian values,” the lawyer said.