OTTAWA—Stephen Harper could drag it out and huff and puff and wag his finger and say this time, but never again, but he really had no choice but to approve the Chinese takeover of Nexen.
He could hardly have travelled to Asia and hung out the huge Open for Business sign then yanked it away the first time a suitor came calling.
What has been fascinating is watching the prime minister stuff that sign back in his bag, closing the deal with CNOOC, then closing the counter should any other suitors get ideas.
That he faced such massive opposition to the deal — including in his Alberta stronghold — is partly based on Canadians’ fears of China, its size, its wealth, its closed society, its perceived agenda, its reputation for allegedly using commerce for spying, its huge, insatiable appetite for foreign resources.
It is partly due to an understandable Canadian reticence to hand over any of our resources to a foreign government and the lack of transparency and consultation on what was driving the Conservative government’s deliberations before it did the expected.
If Harper, however, was saying he really had no choice but to approve this one under the antiquated net benefit rules, he has only himself to blame for playing under those rules because he promised to update them after his government gave the thumbs down on the Australian bid for Saskatchewan’s potash.
It was a delicate balancing act for Harper and likely the biggest decision he has wrestled with since his 2011 reelection.
For the prime minister, threading the needle was not easy, but he clearly contrasted the difference between state-owned and private sector investment.
He may no longer be the free-wheeling free market advocate his base would like, but his logic was clear.
“When we say Canada is open for business, we do not mean that Canada is for sale to foreign governments,’’ Harper said.
“To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead.’’
By talking tough Friday, Harper gave the impression that state-owned enterprises need not bother returning to the Alberta oil sands, but he did not build a wall.
His government would only approve state-owned oil sands investments under “exceptional circumstances’’ but pointedly did not define those exceptional circumstances, leaving the rules flexible and nimble, or, put another way, arbitrary and ambiguous.
When he was asked to be more specific on exceptional circumstances, an accommodating Harper explained it this way: “What we’re saying specifically is that a transaction, an acquisition of control by a foreign state-owned enterprise in the oil sands would only be permitted under exceptional circumstances.’’
So much for specifics.
Similarly, his condition concerning the “extent to which the foreign government in question is likely to exercise control or influence over the state-owned enterprise acquiring the Canadian business’’ leaves miles of discretion in future bids.
What Harper was really doing in his encounter with journalists Friday was lay out a game of investment chess in which he appeared to be seeking some small negotiating advantage with other would be suitors, most notably the Chinese.
He pointed out that under international trade laws, he could not demand reciprocity with the Chinese and had to deal through international trade organizations.
So, his only chess piece to play was his public pronouncement that he believes, or hopes, will be heeded abroad.
This was a prime minister Canadians rarely see.
He was immersed in a wonkish file, and he is, if nothing else, a master of such files and he appeared to enjoy his Friday economics seminar with the press gallery.
He celebrated the fact that Canadians are “the boy scouts’’ of the world, when it comes to the rule of law, something that will always make Canada an attractive place to invest.
But Harper, himself, is no longer a boy scout.
His transformation on the Chinese file has been something to behold.
In 2006, speaking of China, he said Canadians did not want a government to sell out values such as democracy, freedom and human rights in the quest for the almighty dollar.
In early 2012, he said come on over and start shopping.
In late 2012, he had finally played all the angles, closing the deal for the almighty dollar, but signalling that shopping trip will not always go so smoothly.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Tim Harper
He could hardly have travelled to Asia and hung out the huge Open for Business sign then yanked it away the first time a suitor came calling.
What has been fascinating is watching the prime minister stuff that sign back in his bag, closing the deal with CNOOC, then closing the counter should any other suitors get ideas.
That he faced such massive opposition to the deal — including in his Alberta stronghold — is partly based on Canadians’ fears of China, its size, its wealth, its closed society, its perceived agenda, its reputation for allegedly using commerce for spying, its huge, insatiable appetite for foreign resources.
It is partly due to an understandable Canadian reticence to hand over any of our resources to a foreign government and the lack of transparency and consultation on what was driving the Conservative government’s deliberations before it did the expected.
If Harper, however, was saying he really had no choice but to approve this one under the antiquated net benefit rules, he has only himself to blame for playing under those rules because he promised to update them after his government gave the thumbs down on the Australian bid for Saskatchewan’s potash.
It was a delicate balancing act for Harper and likely the biggest decision he has wrestled with since his 2011 reelection.
For the prime minister, threading the needle was not easy, but he clearly contrasted the difference between state-owned and private sector investment.
He may no longer be the free-wheeling free market advocate his base would like, but his logic was clear.
“When we say Canada is open for business, we do not mean that Canada is for sale to foreign governments,’’ Harper said.
“To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead.’’
By talking tough Friday, Harper gave the impression that state-owned enterprises need not bother returning to the Alberta oil sands, but he did not build a wall.
His government would only approve state-owned oil sands investments under “exceptional circumstances’’ but pointedly did not define those exceptional circumstances, leaving the rules flexible and nimble, or, put another way, arbitrary and ambiguous.
When he was asked to be more specific on exceptional circumstances, an accommodating Harper explained it this way: “What we’re saying specifically is that a transaction, an acquisition of control by a foreign state-owned enterprise in the oil sands would only be permitted under exceptional circumstances.’’
So much for specifics.
Similarly, his condition concerning the “extent to which the foreign government in question is likely to exercise control or influence over the state-owned enterprise acquiring the Canadian business’’ leaves miles of discretion in future bids.
What Harper was really doing in his encounter with journalists Friday was lay out a game of investment chess in which he appeared to be seeking some small negotiating advantage with other would be suitors, most notably the Chinese.
He pointed out that under international trade laws, he could not demand reciprocity with the Chinese and had to deal through international trade organizations.
So, his only chess piece to play was his public pronouncement that he believes, or hopes, will be heeded abroad.
This was a prime minister Canadians rarely see.
He was immersed in a wonkish file, and he is, if nothing else, a master of such files and he appeared to enjoy his Friday economics seminar with the press gallery.
He celebrated the fact that Canadians are “the boy scouts’’ of the world, when it comes to the rule of law, something that will always make Canada an attractive place to invest.
But Harper, himself, is no longer a boy scout.
His transformation on the Chinese file has been something to behold.
In 2006, speaking of China, he said Canadians did not want a government to sell out values such as democracy, freedom and human rights in the quest for the almighty dollar.
In early 2012, he said come on over and start shopping.
In late 2012, he had finally played all the angles, closing the deal for the almighty dollar, but signalling that shopping trip will not always go so smoothly.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Tim Harper
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