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Lately, some die-hard Canadian nationalists, including
top flight business executives, have been wringing their hands over the
so-called “hollowing out” of the country’s corporate landscape due to
foreign buy-outs.
As it turns out, Canadian companies did more shopping
abroad last year than foreign big business did in Canada.
According to the Investment Industry Association of Canada, as reported
in the Toronto Star on June 26, Canadian business scooped up
almost 800 foreign firms in deals worth a total of $111 billion.
Foreign companies purchased 175 Canadian companies with a total
transaction value of $84 billion in 2006.
And the trend appears to be continuing this
year. Canadian companies bought 134 foreign firms during the first
three months of 2007 compared to foreign takeovers of only 46 Canadian
businesses.
Huge acquisitions by the barons of Bay Street include
Goldcorp’s takeover of Glamis Gold Ltd. for $8.5 billion, Thomson Corp.’s
$18.2 billion (U.S.) deal to buy Reuters Group PLC, and Great-West Lifeco
Inc.’s acquisition of Putnam Investments Trust for C$3.9 billion.
Foreign takeovers of prominent Canadian companies,
such as Inco Ltd., Falconbridge Ltd., and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts made headlines
over the past year. And now with telecommunications giant BCE Inc.
up for grabs, there are loud demands that Ottawa intervene.
So, what’s going on here, and who would benefit?
Well, one set of tycoons want protectionism (e.g.
banks, telecom). Another set wants all restrictions on capital
removed. Neither side in this shell games represents the interests
of working people. Mergers and takeovers primarily mean job losses
and consumer price gouging – regardless the nationality of the
owners.
So, what’s the answer? Neither Canadian
nationalism nor so-called ‘free trade’.
To put human needs before private profits we need a
government that moves decisively to democratize the economy, to bring the
giant corporations and banks into public ownership under the control of
workers and our communities. That’s called socialism – which all the
tycoons and CEOs worldwide will fight to the bitter end.
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