Jack Layton defends corporations

Jack Layton looking out for 'iconic companies.' Corporations, whether Canadian or not, are in the business of profit, which is accumulated from the exploitation of their workers and consumers. Should Layton really be looking out for corporations? I can understand the nationalist argument, but I'd rather hear him speaking about the nationalization of these corporations, rather than simpy defending them from 'hositle' foreign takeovers.


OTTAWA – The NDP turned up the heat in Parliament by calling on the Conservative government to hold emergency hearings into the recent rash of foreign takeovers of Canadians firms. After touring Alcan’s largest Canadian facility in the Saguenay region of Quebec, NDP leader Jack Layton, along with Industry Critic Brian Masse, wrote to the chair of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology outlining the urgency of such hearings.

In the last 22 years, over 11,500 Canadian firms have been taken over by foreign interests, 600 in the last 16 months alone. Iconic companies such as Molson, Dofasco, Labatt, Inco, The Bay, Falconbridge and even the Montreal Canadiens have all been sold to foreign owners. Today, Alcan is under threat of a hostile takeover from US-based Alcoa.

Between 1985 and 2005, 87% of all foreign takeover acquisitions were automatically approved without federal government review, while each of the remaining 13% were reviewed and approved. The Investment Canada Act, which governs foreign takeovers, has not rejected one foreign takeover application since its introduction 22 years ago.

“Everyday Canadians are becoming worried that their country is slipping away,” said Layton. “It’s time to examine whether the current rules governing takeovers are adequate and to assess the costs of so much of Canada’s natural resources and so many of Canada’s iconic companies being in the hands of foreign interests.”

http://www.ndp.ca/page/5356?refer=more