Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to this opposition motion, particularly since it directly concerns the western provinces. People where I come from perhaps do not realize to what extent this could have an impact on them in the future. It is important to know what kind of precedent we want to set and how we want to improve the existing legislation. I also want to congratulate my colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster for having introduced this motion. Before I forget, I am pleased to share my speaking time with the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, one of my wonderful colleagues whom I am looking forward to hearing speak on this issue.
Let us come back to the issue before us today. My colleague from Timmins—James Bay repeatedly tried to get our colleagues opposite back on track by asking them why they could not stick to the subject. The issue before us goes beyond economic considerations. These are fundamental considerations to do with fairness and being masters in our own house. The protection of our natural resources is at stake.
As several of my colleagues have said since this morning, the issue is not so much whether or not one is for or against investments, but whether these investments are responsible and beneficial to Canadians and our industries and whether they allow us to make the most of our natural resources both at home and abroad.
Before continuing, I would like to speak about another extremely important issue. Our motion includes two important points. The first point concerns public hearings, and the second point, clarifying the notion of “net benefit”.
I am going to start by talking about public hearings. A definition was proposed by the former minister of industry and the current president of the Treasury Board. A colleague and I saw an article published this morning where the minister was quoted. He stated that supporting our motion would mean breaking the law and that it would be illegal to hold a public consultation. He is wrong.
If you do not read the legislation carefully, you could be forgiven for thinking that he is right. The Investment Canada Act places a great deal of importance on the confidentiality of information, but in paragraph 36(4)(c), it states that information that is already public is exempt from the confidentiality clause. Public consultations can therefore be held. After all, when it comes to the sale of Nexen, a number of facts are already in the public realm. For example, a submission that the company made to the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the Communist Party of China has shares in this company. There are also concerns regarding national security, which were recently raised in a public report to Parliament. These facts have already been made public. So there is no reason to consider public hearings illegal.
My colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster spoke this morning about the motion that our party and our late leader, Mr. Layton, had moved regarding a review of the Investment Canada Act. That particular case had to do with BHP Billiton. I was not here at the time, but all the members of the House, across party lines, unanimously supported the motion.
I will read an interesting part of that motion:
...those most directly affected by any takeover are considered, and any decision on whether a takeover delivers a “net benefit” to Canada is transparent by: (a) making public hearings a mandatory part of foreign investment review; (b) ensuring those hearings are open to all directly affected and expert witnesses they choose to call on their behalf;
I am summarizing here because the motion is much too long. However, we can see that it talks about public hearings. This motion was unanimously adopted by the House. This is interesting, because the former industry minister said that this would be illegal. So I have a hard time understanding why he supported such a motion in 2010 but will not support the current motion, seemingly on behalf of his own government. That does not make sense. It is not too much to ask for public hearings.
At the risk of repeating what has been said by many of my colleagues, this is not a matter of being for or against the purchase. It is a matter of creating a thorough process to avoid setting a precedent that could raise difficult issues or lead to problems in the future. We must also hear what Canadians have to say on this subject.
That is not too much to ask. I think that is the very essence of democracy. I do not understand why the Conservative members are so afraid of holding public hearings on this. It could be a positive for them. In the future, they could refer to these public hearings once a decision has been made, since the process will have been thorough.
That said, I would also like to talk about the second aspect of our motion, which deals with the definition of “net benefit”. I am not a lawyer, but any lawyer would tell you that it is important to clearly define the terms used in a bill. The government accuses us of being against entrepreneurs, business people and investment. But investors and business people are calling for a clear definition.
I have spoken with business people in my riding, and they want clear regulations. They want to know whether or not they are protected. By providing a clear definition of what constitutes a net benefit, we would improve the business community's situation and create a healthier environment for investing in Canada, for both the public and shareholders.
Earlier this morning, a Conservative member said that shareholders had voted in favour of the CNOOC takeover of Nexen. There are a few important points to raise in this regard. First, a public hearing does not prevent shareholders from expressing their opinions. After all, they are investors and individuals. There is nothing about this process that would prevent them from sharing their opinions and explaining to the public why they voted in favour of the takeover.
As the hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster mentioned, he was the only member of Parliament at the meeting to better understand this issue. When it comes to natural resources, it is important to be, as we say in Quebec, “maîtres chez nous” or masters of our own domain. I think that all Canadians feel the same way about this. Our natural resources are an asset. It is important that everyone be involved, not just shareholders. Shareholders benefit from resources that are dear to us, that are the heart of our country's development. This is a very important issue.
In closing, I would like to say that it was very important to me to express my opinion on this issue. In my riding, in eastern Canada and in Quebec, not everyone is aware of this issue because it primarily affects the western provinces.
It is important to realize that precedents can be dangerous, problematic and worrisome. This takeover could cause harm to other sectors later. Natural resources are very important in Quebec. How do we know that this will not happen in the future under different circumstances? We must be vigilant and rigorous. That is why I am proud of our motion.
