Something's Rotten In Canada

Canada's reliable balance of payments publication (Statistics Canada No. 67-001) has reported that long-term $ inflows for sales of existing interests in Canada in 2000 amounted to a staggering $87.533 billion. The previous annual record was in 1999, $33.03 billion (see page 101). Despite these figures, the CRA report says that foreign-controlled assets in Canada in 2000 increased by only 2% to $810 billion. Makes no sense. Bear in mind, too, that most of the growth of foreign ownership in Canada is generated not by $ inflows, but by funds raised in Canada and via retained earnings. I am looking into this further and will keep you informed. No one could figure out why the unreleased report sat in Rock's office so long. Would it be too paranoid to suggest that it had something to do with his unrelenting campaign to sell off to foreign corporations the telecommunications industry ( cable, tv, telephone companies)? See also page 21 in Vanishing. "In 2000 there was a new record of 509 Canadian firms taken over by foreign non-residents. The value of these takeovers, according to the Investment Review Division, was a startling *81.8 billion." So there you have two different government departments essentially in agreement, yet the new report released from Rock's office is tens of billions of $ out of synch. Some of you might wish to write to your local paper about the new misleading report. Mel