U.S. corporate raider targets Canadian film industry giant

OTTAWA – Today, in the House of Commons, New Democrats pushed the Minister of Heritage to investigate the attempted hostile takeover bid of Canadian film giant Lions Gate by infamous U.S. ‘corporate raider’ Carl Icahn. During Question Period, NDP Heritage Critic Charlie Angus called on the minister to hold public hearings on the potential loss of a cornerstone of Canada’s film industry.

“Lions Gate is a jewel of Canada’s film production and distribution industry, with 20,000 jobs connected to the work it does. Icahn has made no secret that he intends to shake up this Canadian company,” Angus said. “There’s speculation he will ditch the film distribution wing, dump the library assets and cut film production in Vancouver. Will the minister commit to holding public hearings on this hostile bid and not just rubber-stamp the ambitions of a corporate raider?”

Icahn has been a highly controversial figure in the word of corporate takeovers. Angus suggested Minister Moore do his homework on Icahn.

“If the Minister is a movie fan, he might want to watch the movie Wall Street,” he said. “The notorious corporate raider Gordon Gekko was partly based on Carl Icahn. This man cuts apart companies with a chainsaw.”

Angus warned the government today that rubber-stamping the takeover of Lions Gate could have devastating impacts on Canadian culture.

“This government totally failed to act in the public interest when they rubber-stamped the sell-off of Falconbridge, Stelco and Inco. Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “This minister’s job is to ensure the existence of a robust cultural sector in the country.”