Canada considers changes to foreign investment review
Kevin Rushton, Susan M. Hutton
On October 9, 2007, Canada's Minister of Industry, Jim Prentice, announced that, this fall, the Canadian government "will examine the need for guidelines on takeovers by state-owned enterprises" and will "carefully consider the creation of an explicit national security test" in the context of foreign investment review under the Investment Canada Act.1
Speaking before the Vancouver Board of Trade in a widely-anticipated address, Minister Prentice emphasized that "Canada is open for business", but said that safeguards must be put in place to protect Canadian interests. With respect to investments by entities owned or controlled by foreign governments, Minister Prentice explained that the "government's concern is not with the ownership of the foreign capital being invested", but rather with "ensuring that state-owned enterprises in Canada are operating under the same standards as any other commercial enterprise operating in Canada, including those related to transparency, good governance practices and whether they operate according to free market principles." With respect to national security considerations, Minister Prentice noted that several countries have the means to review and block foreign investment on national security grounds, and commented that the lack of a national security test in Canada for foreign investment is "an oversight that should be addressed."
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