- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- South Shore—St. Margarets
- Nova Scotia
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $136,927.65
- Government Page
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member for Lethbridge's speech, and I am particularly interested in the example she gave about Hytera. For those who are watching and do not understand, the Chinese-based state-owned company that bought it does not make money; it actually loses money every year. These state-owned enterprises are not only acquiring Canadian companies but also winning contracts by being the lowest bidder for Canadian companies not making money.
Could the member please inform the House what she thinks the motivation might be of a state-owned enterprise if it is not making money in acquiring these businesses?
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue provides a lot of great input at the industry committee, and I appreciate that we have a lot of thoughtful discussions.
I agree that we should not create artificial time when we are dealing with very critical acquisitions. Whether it is a private sector company from around the world taking over Rona, for example, or a state-owned enterprise, the minister needs to not be restricted by arbitrary timelines so we can get the adequate national security net benefit and can analyze whether they have been convicted of corruption or bribery, thanks to the Conservatives, who put that in. Those are considerations the government should review in a thorough manner, not necessarily feeling that it has to rush things through.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work that the member for Kelowna—Lake Country did on the industry committee's study on this issue, in terms of this act, in the last Parliament, which made nine recommendations. This bill addresses only two of those nine recommendations. Recommendation 1 from that report, which I think would address a lot of the concerns of members, was that the threshold for investments made by state-owned enterprises in Canada, for the review on national security or net benefit, be reduced from $415 million to zero.
I would like to know whether the member has any views on that aspect.
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Madam Speaker, there seems to be some confusion on the Liberal side about this issue of zero state-owned enterprises. In the last quarter, four lobster-buying businesses in my riding were acquired by a Chinese state-owned enterprise. It controls the price at the dock. It paid five times the value of the business. It is taking that over. That is why, from my view, I support what the member said, but I wonder if the member could expand on that a little more to educate the folks on the government side so they will accept some amendments.
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Madam Speaker, I found the member's speech very interesting, particularly with regard to whether there are any documents to support the minister's decision on the acquisition laws.
In the last Parliament, recommendation number one of the unanimous report by the industry committee was that a state-owned enterprise's financial ceiling for review by the government be lowered from $415 million, from a hostile country like China, to zero. This bill, Bill C-34, does not propose any changes to that limit, which means that state-owned enterprises can buy up anything they like in this country under $415 million.
I would like the member's views on whether he would like to see amendments to this bill in that area.
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Madam Speaker, I listened intently to the member for Kingston and the Islands' speech. In my opening speech on this I said that these micro-administrative changes are much needed, but they are likely not to do what is claimed. The government has had the opportunity, over the last eight years, in the existing act, to reject takeovers by Chinese state-owned enterprises of Canadian assets. These include the Tanco mine in Manitoba where the government actually said no to a national security review, and Hytera, which took over telecommunications businesses. The then minister of industry said no to a national security review.
Can this member please tell me what in this bill will ensure that those types of acquisitions by state-owned enterprises are reviewed in the future?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the member for Nepean about state-owned enterprises from not-so-democratic countries, or hostile countries. It was recommendation number one of the industry committee's report from the last Parliament on this issue that the threshold for consideration as a national security or net benefit test under this act be reduced from the $415 million to zero dollars, so that every transaction in every type of industry by a state-owned enterprise from a nondemocratic country would be reviewed. That is not in this bill. Would the hon. member support it being amended that way?
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated the speech by my colleague from Windsor West, who I enjoy working with on the industry committee, and the former chair who did marvellous work on it. It is a great report. My personal favourite is recommendation number one, which is that the state-owned enterprises be reduced to zero for review.
The Investment Canada Act focuses on the acquisition of companies. However, it does not focus at all on the acquisition of individual assets. These would be things like a mine sold by a company to a foreign interest; or a technology sold, without the company being sold, to an interest that may not be in Canada's best security interest or net benefit interest. I do not recall hearing about this. Could the member comment on that?
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Madam Speaker, I really enjoy sitting on the fisheries committee with the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith. She brings a lot of good value to that committee, as does the member for Cape Breton—Canso.
That is an important question because this is below the threshold. The fisheries industry, which is a strategic food industry for Canada, is not, in any of the lists I have heard from the minister, generally listed as an industry that should be protected. Our food industry is below the threshold for review because these acquisitions are smaller companies that are way below the review, whether it is from China or the United States.
We are seeing more and more on the B.C. coast that many of the fisheries licences are owned by Chinese state-owned enterprises, and on the east coast we are seeing the processing side of things and the fish-buying things in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia being acquired by countries from all over the world, but primarily China.
I understand there is nothing in this bill that would stop those types of things coming. I would like to explore this a little more in committee. Perhaps the only thing would be, at this stage, if the minister put fisheries as part of the food strategic investments on his list.
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Madam Speaker, I know that the government has put in these policies and made some of these amendments here, but these are only as good as the minister's own scrutiny of transactions. In 2019, this minister's predecessor approved the sale of the Tanco mine in Manitoba to a Chinese mining business. That mining business now controls the only lithium-producing mine in Canada and the mine that produces most of the world's cesium. The minister did not ask them to divest, but he asked three others.
Why would he not implement a divestment of that particular investment, if he cares so much about state-owned enterprise interference?
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