“Through its stimulus bill, the Harper government, supported by the Liberals, is facilitating foreign takeovers by phasing in a dramatic rise in the threshold that triggers an Industry Canada review. Currently, the sale of companies with a value under $312 million are exempt from review. Within four years, it will be $1 billion. This is unacceptable,” said New Democrat Malcolm Allen (Welland). “Harper’s short-sighted vision for the Canadian economy means that more and more Canadian operations are closing their doors and heading stateside.”

The Harper government is bending over backwards to facilitate the sale of Canadian industry to foreign nationals. The sell-off of Stelco and now Nortel are only recent examples. In fact, the Harper government is going so far as to allow the Export Development Corporation (EDC), a crown corporation, to provide Nokia or Ericsson with $300 million to finance their takeover bids.

“New Democrats are demanding that the Harper government get behind Canadian companies wanting to build and grow in our own backyard with the same vigour as they devote to supporting foreign takeovers,” said Allen. “New Democrats are committed to stopping the cycle of selling off the manufacturing future of Canada.”

The Harper Conservatives have opportunities to redeem themselves from selling out Canadians by supporting the repatriation efforts of companies like Lakeside Steel Inc., which is fighting to bring back Canadian jobs.

“It was under the watch of the Harper government that former Canadian-owned Stelco plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke were sold off and then shut down by U.S. Steel,” said New Democrat Industry Critic Brian Masse. “New Democrats are committed to supporting the repatriation of Canadian jobs by Canadian business.”

New Democrat Deputy Industry Critic Wayne Marston echoes the call to support working Canadians. “When our government allows Canadian industry to be taken over by foreign interests, they are essentially handing over our national sovereignty,” said Marston. “For New Democrats, Canadian interests always come first”.