Clause 137 seeks to gradually triple the reviewability threshold for foreign investors. The current threshold is set at $344 million, and the goal is to raise it to $1 billion. That means a lot more foreign acquisition transactions will no longer be subject to an adequate review under the provisions set out in the Investment Canada Act up to this point.
Ever since the Investment Canada Act came into force, the threshold has always gone up, but never so significantly. Many problems with the Investment Canada Act have come to the fore in recent months. Concerns include a lack of transparency and insufficient guidelines for the minister under the act. This lack of clarity has a tremendous influence on the decisions made by foreign investors looking to invest in Canadian companies, indeed acquire them.
The lack of clarity has been singled out time and time again. The Minister of Industry, who is, of course, responsible for such things, examined a number of acquisitions. And those decisions did nothing to clarify the conditions for acquisitions permitted by the government.
In that respect, the proposed amendments in this bill do nothing to rectify that lack of clarity and transparency, problems that should, indeed, be dealt with. The government had promised to do just that, not only during the election campaign, but also numerous times before and after the election.
The goal of amendment NDP-10 is to increase the threshold at which the Minister of Industry is required to conduct a review. We are proposing that the threshold be raised by $1 million next year, after which, increases would be tied to inflation. We want to make sure that foreign acquisitions provide a net benefit for Canada, as planned. The government will still have to determine what a net benefit for Canada means.
We're talking about foreigners looking to invest directly in Canada, but we're also talking about direct acquisitions, which often benefit Canada. That is something the review can show. However, they also regularly conflict with Canadian economic interests. If you don't believe me, just think about recent cases involving Vale Inco, Xstrata-Falconbridge and White Birch Paper. A review is absolutely necessary. If the threshold is increased to $1 billion, many acquisitions will take place without any evidence to show that the transaction was in Canada's economic interests.
This amendment addresses that problem by calling for a modest increase at first, after which the threshold would keep pace with the rate of inflation. That approach ensures that the government carries out the appropriate reviews.
We would also like to see more clarity and transparency, concerns the bill fails to address.