moved for leave to introduce Bill C-386, An Act to amend the Investment Canada Act (foreign investments).
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table my private member's bill, which would give the government the power to reject a takeover of a Canadian company if it was deemed not to be in our national interest. This test would go beyond the current net economic benefit test and is prompted by me due to the recent spate of takeovers of some of our major natural resource companies, such as Inco and Falconbridge.
I believe that in Canada we need to consciously decide whether our homegrown industries, especially our natural resource companies, should be in the hands of non-Canadians. We need to have a debate in this country. We should not allow this to happen by default, which is what is happening now.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)