Thank you for that question.
Whenever I give lectures to MBA students, I always start with a question, and the question I ask is: give me an example of a foreign company operating in Canada. The lists are long and they come quickly. Then I ask them the question, give me examples of Canadian companies operating globally. A few names come up, but then the lists are short and they take a long time to come up.
I think generally Canadians have a fear of being taken over by the U.S., by foreign companies coming into Canada. But they really don't see, they don't appreciate how well Canadian companies are doing globally.
When I show them the data that clearly shows that by 1997 Canada's investment into the global economy exceeded foreign direct investment in Canada, they're really surprised. Canadian companies are doing very well in the global economy, and they're expanding globally at a much faster pace than foreign companies coming into Canada.
Whenever there is a foreign takeover in Canada, it gets a lot of media hype. Whenever there's a Canadian takeover of a foreign company, it doesn't make the media that much; it's not as exciting. Canadians have this fear of being taken over, but it's a myth, because if you look at the data, Canada now has something like 25% more investment abroad than there is foreign investment in Canada—over $600 billion invested abroad. So it's a myth.
Secondly, the argument that the best way to protect Canadian companies is to throw up barriers to foreign ownership is old-fashioned, and it doesn't square with the reality, the reality being that globally, virtually every country in the world is creating policies that will attract multinationals or attract foreign investment.
The best way to protect domestic companies is not by putting up walls to protect them from foreign entry. It's by giving them an environment in which they can rise to the international challenge to be globally competitive, so that in the face of foreign competition they're able to stand up, provide value, provide innovation and prosperity for Canadians.
So that's why I say they're a myth: because the evidence does not support either of those two claims.