Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Blackstrap for splitting her time with me today on this important issue.
Last night, the Minister of Industry determined that the BHP proposal to purchase PotashCorp was in his opinion not likely to be a net benefit to Canada.
For weeks we have heard the member for Wascana rant and rave. We have heard the opposition use ever more inflammatory language, with a lack of understanding of both the process and common sense. Last night the Minister of Industry kept a cool head. He weighed the facts and made his decision.
I want to say today that Canada is open for business. Canada's economy needs foreign investment. Interestingly, Canadian firms invest more money outside of Canada than foreign firms invest here. We live in a world in which Canada has strong economic fundamentals. I would argue that this is in part due to our economic action plan and to the great leadership of the Prime Minister. Our companies are better able to compete abroad. We cannot and we must not close the door to foreign investment.
Our government was elected on the platform of standing up for Canada, and we will fulfill that commitment.
Under 13 years of Liberal rule, the Liberals ignored the west. Yet in the past few weeks, the Member for Wascana seems to have forgotten that.
While we had one member from Saskatchewan promoting his own interests, we had thirteen members from Saskatchewan working with the government to promote the best interests of Saskatchewan.
As my colleague pointed out earlier, he cannot even get along with his own colleagues in the province. This is basically the rule of thumb for how things operate there for him: he is in disagreement with his own provincial Liberal leader about the position that he took.
I have also been surprised at some of the comments made about my own colleagues. They are made by people who, in many cases, do not even bother to call and talk to us. There are some people who think that unless there is division and dissension nothing is getting done. I can say that nothing is further from the truth.
There is another story that needs to be told. There are 13 MPs here who are able to work together, who are used to working together. We bring 13 different perspectives, 13 different histories, to the House. We bring 13 different opinions to our discussions. The folks whom I work with from the Saskatchewan caucus bring a team attitude. They set their individual egos aside for the betterment of our province. It is a group that can carry a unified message and is willing to present a unified front when we bring our ideas to caucus and to the government.
I am proud to be part of this group. I am proud to work with them. One of the reasons I am proud is that this approach has worked for Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan has benefited from this group of MPs. There has been consistent leadership in Parliament and in our party. Over the last few years, we have brought forward a balanced platform of tax cuts, a balanced stimulus package, a well-organized economic action plan, and a focus on strengthening our economy.
That is one of the things that has made our province a leader in the country. Others look to Saskatchewan for leadership. It is not an accident that this has happened since a Conservative government has come to power in Ottawa.
The former Liberal government approved every single one of the applications for foreign takeovers. It never challenged any of them. Our government believes strongly in foreign investment, but a vital part of the deal is that it must be of benefit to Canada. We need take no lessons from the member for Wascana.
Furthermore, we could see last night, if we were watching TV, that his leader has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of how Investment Canada acts and how foreign investment works in this country. This is strange, because there has been a foreign takeover taking place in the Liberal Party for the last five years. We would think Liberals would know a little more about it than they seem to.
The government recognizes that, although foreign investment is generally to the benefit of the host country, there may be instances where a given transaction, according to the present legislation, upon close and diligent scrutiny, is determined not to be beneficial.
I would like to talk about the Investment Canada Act. To ensure that significant acquisitions of Canadian enterprises by foreign companies are of net benefit to Canada, the Investment Canada Act requires that the Minister of Industry examine and approve a proposed investment before it can be made.
Under the present act, the minister must be satisfied, based on the plans, undertakings, and other representations of the investor, that the investment provides a net benefit to Canada. In making the determination, the Minister of Industry must consider the following factors: the effect of the investment on the level and nature of economic activity in Canada; the degree and significance of participation by Canadians in the Canadian business or new Canadian business; the effect of the investment on productivity, industrial efficiency, technological development, product innovation, and product variety in Canada; the effect of the investment on competition within any industry or industries in Canada; the compatibility of the investment with national, industrial, economic, and cultural policies; and the contribution of the investment to Canada's ability to compete in world markets.
This process and this act require that significant foreign investments are of net benefit to Canada. That is only half the story. I want to talk about the many associate benefits that Canada reaps when Canadian businesses make investment abroad.
Until the 1970s, certain branches of economics viewed outward foreign direct investment as generally detrimental, particularly with respect to economic growth in capital-exporting countries. Large enterprises investing outside their home countries were thought to be depriving the home country of economic growth and employment. Thankfully, we now know that this is an inadequate perspective.
Nowadays, Canadian investment abroad contributes to a more dynamic and competitive economy both in other countries and at home. To be more specific, I am going to go through a few points about our foreign investment. Data show that the growth, productivity, and profit from Canadian firms involved in global markets has been superior to the performance of domestically oriented firms. Income from Canada's foreign direct investment increased sharply with the increase of outward foreign investment. Direct investment income averaged $6 billion between 1990 and 1996, almost $2 billion more than between 1985 and 1989, and that directly helped to improve our standard of living.
The growth of Canadian investment abroad leads to an increase in exports, and this directly affects Canada's economic health. Exports account for more than one-third of our gross domestic product. They are the path to future growth and continued competitiveness in the global marketplace. No one knows this more than the folks in my part of the world who grow agricultural products.
Investment abroad offers Canadian high tech companies better access to foreign skills and foreign technologies. It also increases research and development in Canada, which in turn leads to innovation, expanded market potential, and better employment opportunities for highly educated workers.
The spillover effects benefit companies that are not necessarily investing abroad themselves.
We cannot shut the Canadian economy off from foreign investment, as the NDP and the coalition seem to want. The benefits are too great. We must be vigilant. We must make sure that the net benefit of a transaction is, in fact, a net benefit to Canadians. That does not mean building a 60-foot wall, as the coalition would like to see, as the current NDP leader in particular would have us believe is necessary.
As a small economy, we welcome foreign investment because it is an important economic driver. Foreign investment contributes to our economy and is absolutely critical. The trend toward globalization and foreign investment provides many benefits to Canada, and it is important to adopt policies that encourage trade and investment. That is what Canadians expect, and that is what our government will deliver.