Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses.
I think I'd like to take us away from the issue of trade, because this bill is not about trade, and we've had a lot of discussion here about trade. This bill is about when a foreign company buys a Canadian company. The Investment Canada Act, which replaced FIRA in the 1980s, exists to deal with that issue. I'd like to focus my questions and the responses on that issue.
I'll start with Dr. Leblond.
The Investment Canada Act has a formula for when a foreign takeover allows the minister to start a review. Right now, this year, it's at $1.3 billion, so any foreign takeover of a Canadian company—not asset—of more than $1.3 billion then allows ISED Canada and the minister to take a look at it. There is nothing in the Investment Canada Act that compels them to do a national security review or a net benefit review.
How do we know that? In the last few years, we've seen the takeover of Tancomine, a lithium-producing mine in Manitoba, by a large, Chinese, state-owned resources company, and it had no national security review. The minister of the day, Navdeep Bains, decided not to do a national security review. We know that Norsat, which owns Sinclair Technologies—Norsat was a Vancouver telecommunications company and Sinclair was a Toronto-based company—was acquired in 2019 by Hytera, which is a Chinese state-owned company. Again, the minister of the day chose not to do a national security review, so there's nothing in there that requires that.
Earlier you mentioned that you thought it was automatic. It's not. Right now that flexibility applies to a state-owned enterprise that acquires something that's over $415 million. If it's under $415 million.... China is buying a lot of assets in Canada under $400 million. In my part of the world, they're paying five times the price every quarter for at least three to four lobster buyers. I know it seems small, but they're paying $10 million for $2-million businesses. They've bought the supply chain. They've bought the control of the freight-forwarding company that exports all of that lobster out of Nova Scotia. Now, if you're not a Chinese state-owned buyer in Nova Scotia, your lobster has to go to New York or Chicago to fly to Asia, and the Halifax airport live lobster control is now being controlled by the freight forwarder owned by China.
There are supply chain issues here of takeovers, but when you're below $415 million, there's an issue. Even when you are over $415 million, there's no guarantee.
What I'm suggesting is that the state-owned enterprise takeover needs to be automatic. The minister doesn't get the option to choose not to do a national security review, which has happened quite frequently in the last few years.
I'd like your comments on that issue, please.