We're going to split it, sir. I will present for two and a half minutes in English, and then Mr. Caron will do it en français.
We are not going to bore you with all the details in our written presentations. I think they're in both languages. I'll make some remarks on the highlights.
Who are we? We are a national union that represents industrial and private sector workers in many of the key sectors of our economy, from the bitumen sands to potash to telecommunications and so forth.
We see a number of problems with the current legislation. One is transparency. There were approximately 18,000 foreign investments made, of which 14,000 were takeover bids and 1,600 were reviewed. The question has to be, “Why?”
We suspect the reason is that the thresholds are too high. Since 1985 or thereabouts, approximately $1 trillion in foreign investment has been made, of which only $21.5 billion has not been for takeovers. Foreign investment means, with a few exceptions, foreign takeovers.
Why should we care? The answer is that 50% of all investment was for takeovers of resource-based primary industries in Canada: oil and gas, mining, and primary metals. We find that problematic when those are, in fact, the key sectors of our economy, which we believe should be under the control of Canadian companies for a whole series of reasons. A strategic investment strategy based on our own resources, controlled by our own companies, has to be a cornerstore of that strategy and of our economy.
I'll now turn it over to Guy Caron to talk about telecommunications.