A Strong Canada/UN Canada Fort

"The government of Canada has determined that foreign state control of oil sands development has reached the point at which further such foreign state control would not be of net benefit to Canada.
"The larger purposes of state-owned enterprises may go well beyond the commercial objectives of privately owned companies.
"This raises the question of when, and to what degree, foreign state control of Canadian business can be of net benefit to Canada.
"To be blunt, Canadians have not spend years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Petro Canada, a Trudeau-era state-owned enterprise (Canadian government)  was not popular in the province which produced the energy that was being controlled by the federal government, squeezing the free enterprise ethos that corporate interests are so attached to, in order to provide inexpensive energy to the provinces that hadn't the good fortune to be sitting over a fortune in fossil fuels just waiting to be extracted.

That a Chinese state-owned energy enterprise has extended the hand of acquisition through a generous offer Nexen shareholders could not bring themselves to refuse reflects the reality that with their investment, Chinese taxpayers will be footing the bill for their own future energy bills, courtesy of Canadian oilsands and natural gas.  The only eastern bastards that might freeze in the dark in theory, will be Canadian.

But -- as a succession of governments are fond of assuring our potential trade and investment partners -- Canada is open for business.  Just not monkey-business.  Just so it's well understood.  Granted, that was a tough decision for the Federal Cabinet to make, a real head-scratcher; how to demonstrate that openness to foreign investment and the concomitant eagerness for free trade if, in response to the first challenge, we shut up shop?

Kind of a Solomonic puzzle to solve.  And while many will grump with good enough reason over the go-ahead of the Chinese and Malaysian investments in Alberta's energy industries, they are the ordinary folk who like that particular feeling of freezing out foreign ownership of Canadian heritage.  They aren't the shareholders, the industry insiders, the financial community, all of whom have cheered the outcome.

While groaning at the fact that an 'exception' to the newly-installed rules will have been made for China and Malaysia on this particular occasion.  Grandfathered, if you will, sunset-type.  CNOOC for its part has promised to ensure that Calgary will be appointed its North- and Central-American headquarters, that Nexen's current management team and employees will be retained, that CNOOC shares will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Henceforth, however state-owned enterprise transactions will have to be submitted to slightly more onerous requirements to qualify for permission to invest in Canadian resources.  Giving assurance of some degree to the doubters, and heartburn to those who want no barriers erected in the cause of protecting Canadian resource ownership-and-management from the deep pockets and future energy needs of foreign investors.  Future potential private or SOE investors to be taken into consideration of the following:

• The degree of control or influence such enterprise would be likely to exert on the Canadian business being acquired;
• The degree of control or influence the enterprise would be likely to exert on the industry in which the Canadian company operates; and
•  The extent to which a foreign state is likely to exercise control or influence over the state-owned enterprise acquiring the Canadian business.

Net benefit threshold for SOE investments will be at the relatively modest $330-million level before the industry ministry must determine whether "exceptional circumstances" exist, while the level for private industry will be at $1-billion before a net benefit review is undertaken.  Investments in all sectors must be free from political influence and prepared to surrender to Canadian law.

Tellingly, SOEs must agree to undertake "positive contributions ... to the productivity and industrial efficiency of the Canadian business" and be prepared to implement standards and practises reflecting "sound corporate governance and transparency."

Sounds good.  Um, well...what doesn't sound so good is Chinese-owned-and-operated HD Mining's proposed Murray River underground coal mine in British Columbia looking for experienced miners making language a priority for consideration of employment.  None of the Canadian applicants made the grade despite their experience. 

Resulting in an application for temporary foreign worker permits; Mandarin-speaking Chinese, some 201 in number initially. To which situation two trade unions have launched a court challenge, and the federal human resources minister to undertake a review of the entire program.