OTTAWA – This could be the beginning of the end for foreign ownership restrictions on Canadian companies.
Today, Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, and Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced the creation of a Competition Policy Review Panel which will be chaired by former Bell Canada Enterprises CEO Lynton Wilson.
"The global economy has changed significantly in the last decade," said Minister Bernier, in a press release. "Trade agreements have opened national markets, while international investments have reached unprecedented levels. These changes increase our standard of living as firms take advantage of untapped investment opportunities, create more jobs and develop new products and services for consumers. Our competition and investment policies must be working fully to the benefit of Canadians in this environment. This is why this review is important."
The five-person panel will take a year to review Canada’s competition and investment policies to ensure that they are working effectively, allowing Canadians and government to encourage even greater foreign investment and create jobs.
The Panel’s core mandate is to review two key pieces of Canadian legislation, the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act, including the treatment of state-owned enterprises and the possibility of a national security review clause. It will also examine Canada’s sectoral restrictions on foreign direct investment (as we have in cable, telecom and broadcasting), and the competition and investment regimes of other jurisdictions to assess reciprocity between their rules and Canada’s.
Separately, the Panel will also assess how Canada’s policies may further encourage outward investment, says the release. The Panel will report to the Minister of Industry, on behalf of the Government of Canada, by June 30, 2008 with concrete recommendations to further enhance competition in Canada.
In addition to the chair, the other experienced panel members are Murray Edwards, Isabelle Hudon, Thomas Jenkins and Brian Levitt
"Red" Wilson served as president and CEO of BCE from 1992 to 1998 and was previously BCE’s president and COO from 1990 to 1992 and chairman of the board from 1993 to 2000. He also held a number of other senior executive positions, including vice-chairman of the Bank of Nova Scotia from 1989 to1990, president and CEO of Redpath Industries and deputy minister of industry and tourism with the Government of Ontario (1978-81).
Wilson is currently chairman of the board of CAE Inc. and Chairman of AllerGen NCE Inc. He is also a director of DaimlerChrysler AG (Supervisory Board) and chairman of the DaimlerChrysler Canadian Advisory Board.
Isabelle Hudon began her professional career in federal politics in the office of the Minister Responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency. Since that time, she has built a public and government relations career through positions at Bell Global Solutions, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Bombardier Aerospace, and BCE Media. She joined the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal in 2002 and is now president and CEO. She is a member of several boards of directors and is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Société du Havre de Montréal, Chairwoman of the Fondation les Petits Trésors of the Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies Board of Directors, Vice-chair of the Board of Directors of Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), and member of the executive and audit committees.
Thomas Jenkins is executive chairman and chief strategy officer of Open Text Corporation. He has served as a director of Open Text since December 1994 and as its Executive Chairman since June 30, 2005. From 1997 until July 2005, Jenkins was CEO of Open Text. He’s a member of the board of BMC Software.
Brian Levitt is co-chair of law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and practices in the firm’s Montréal office. He is one of the leading corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions advisors in Canada. Levitt first joined Osler’s Toronto office in 1976 and became a partner in 1979. He left the firm in 1991 to become president and, later, CEO of Imasco, a position he held until 2000. He returned to Osler in 2001, where he played a leading role in opening the Montréal office that same year. Levitt is a director of Bell Canada, Domtar Corporation and the C.D. Howe Institute.
Murray Edwards is owner and president of Edco Financial Holdings Ltd., a merchant banker since 1988. He is a leading investor in, and managing director and executive chairman of, numerous publicly traded companies including Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Ensign Resource Service Group Inc., Magellan Aerospace Corporation, Penn West Petroleum Limited and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies Inc. Today, these companies employ over 15,000 individuals. He is also a director and co-owner of the Calgary Flames Hockey Club and a director of the Business Development Bank of Canada.
