SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 247

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 6, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23
Mr. Eric Duncan
  • Nov/6/23 5:14:33 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-34 
Madam Speaker, I will echo what many of my colleagues on this side have raised. Members who are on the industry committee will know, when this bill was at committee and amendments were being considered, we put forward 14 different amendments to try to add a more rigorous review process of acquisitions and investments from foreign-state enterprises entering Canada. Just to understand how seriously the Liberals take this issue, of the 14 amendments that would strengthen the process even further, only four of them passed. I would say to the member from the NDP who voted for time allocation and voted for all this to proceed that they are going along with the Liberals and only passing, for example, four of 14 amendments that would further strengthen the bill.
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Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23
Mr. Rick Perkins (South Shore—St. Margarets, CPC)
  • Nov/6/23 5:41:14 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-34 
Madam Speaker, I know my colleague from Calgary Centre has done a lot of good work in the area of mergers and acquisitions throughout his career. I would like him to comment on what we are actually debating today that some members in the NDP-Liberal coalition do not seem to want to talk about, which is the removal, in the bill, of cabinet from the decision-making process. Given that my colleague has sat at C-suite tables and board tables, and I know he understands how cabinet works, does he not think decision-making processes in the area of foreign takeovers would be much enhanced by the collective decision-making of a management team, a board or a cabinet as opposed to letting one lone minister make the decisions?
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Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23
Mr. Greg McLean
  • Nov/6/23 5:43:42 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-34 
Madam Speaker, I do not know where the government is going on this. It is obvious that for years, we were looking at transparent decisions made with the market. Unfortunately, a lot of acquisitions happen in the market around the world by foreign actors that are state-owned enterprises. Those require oversight because, frankly, state-owned actors have a different way of doing business than businesses—
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Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23
Mr. Bernard Généreux
  • Nov/6/23 6:13:00 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-34 
Madam Speaker, that is an important question since, indeed, when we talk about national security and the security of companies that might be acquired or that have a national security interest, it is vital that we ensure that the process is done properly. Unfortunately, several of the amendments we proposed were rejected. They would have enhanced the quality of the work that the government in place should have done to ensure that we do not get taken for a ride, which is what happened in several cases where the minister approved acquisitions in Canada that never should have happened.
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