Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in follow-up to a question that I asked in this House, along with one of my colleagues, the MP for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, with respect to the recently approved takeover of MTS Allstream, a Canadian company with a fibre optic network in Manitoba, which was taken over by a U.S. company.
MTS Allstream was a Canadian carrier that offered fibre optic services, which carry the confidential data of thousands of Canadians, including government departments, the RCMP, and others. Its sale went through to an American firm following the federal election.
As we expressed in this House, our concern is that this sale was made without proper review. It certainly was not made known to Canadians. As a result, sensitive information will now be subject to American surveillance, including the U.S. patriot act.
We know that the previous government blocked an earlier attempt to purchase MTS Allstream, based on national security concerns. Therefore, we are concerned to hear that the current Liberal government refused to do a comprehensive review to protect Canadians.
The Investment Canada Act is a piece of legislation that is set up to ultimately protect Canadians, and to ensure that foreign takeovers protect Canadian jobs and investments in communities, and of course maintain our public safety.
Based on the various battles involving foreign takeovers, we in this House know that the Investment Canada Act has unfortunately not protected us. In the past, we certainly called for a review of the act, for a strengthening of the act, and for the need for increased transparency when it comes to foreign takeovers.
I know this to be the case in terms of takeovers in the mining sector, as I come from a community where we once had Inco, a successful Canadian company that was bought out by the Brazilian multinational Vale, which waited until the expiry of its two-year agreement to come out with some potentially devastating announcements with respect to the loss of Canadian jobs. Fortunately, we were able to get Vale back to the table to mitigate that kind of devastating announcement, although we know that other communities, including Sudbury, were in a difficult situation. That is an example of where the Investment Canada Act did not protect us.
However, going back to the example of MTS Allstream, these are the questions. Was there a proper review conducted; why do Canadians not know about it; and how is our public safety being protected in this case?