Foreign Ownership And Control

You should know that while there are many sectors of the Canadian economy that are already foreign-owned and foreign-controlled, in the United States there is not one, and foreign ownership in the U.S. economy is only at just slightly over 6% of corporate revenues, whereas in Canada it is already back up to 30%. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about what percent of the Canadian economy we should allow to be sold off to non-resident ownership. Mr. Minister, I also note with interest your comments about a review of the Investment Canada Act. But I also note that you do not appear to be too familiar with the results since FIRA was abolished and the Investment Review Agency came into effect on June 30, 1985. No doubt you are aware that not one single takeover has been rejected from over 11,000 applications. However, I wonder if you are aware of the monthly Industry Canada Investment Review figures that show that in the period from June 30, 1985, to the end of November, 2004, of over $532.2 billion in new foreign investment, 96.8% was for takeovers of businesses in Canada, while only a paltry 3.2% was for new business investment. I would welcome your response to these figures, and ask you if Canada really wants to have more of the same. I am wondering also if you are aware of the fact that a very large percentage of the funds that foreign companies use to take over businesses in Canada comes from our own Canadian financial institutions, mainly our big five banks. I look forward to your reply with a great deal of interest. Should you plan a committee hearing on foreign investment, ownership and control in Canada, I would welcome an invitation. I think you would find it helpful to read pages 11 to 54 of my book The Vanishing Country (McClelland and Stewart) which is available in any good book store. Mel Hurtig, O.C. [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 3, 2005]