Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his comments but a lot of questions about the government's position on this takeover still remain.
Will there be reciprocity? Will Canadian resource companies be able to buy Chinese ones or will they stay shut out?
Then there is Iran. In 2008 CNOOC signed a $16 billion investment deal with Iran. CNOOC's extensive business there becomes very relevant now that the government has just suspended diplomatic ties, a bold move. This follows the trade sanctions that the government has also imposed against Iran.
If companies operating in Canada must abide by Canadian law, including trade restrictions on them from these sanctions, will a CNOOC-owned Nexen be exempt?
Can the member explain the Canada-China foreign investment protection agreement, which apparently grants more investor-state protections to foreign companies operating in Canada than Canadian companies currently have. This includes the ability to sue the Canadian government if it introduces new safety, health, labour or environment laws that threaten the Chinese company's profits.