Wednesday-Night

It seems we are stuck in a topic rut and not only in terms of frequency, quantity and quality of snowfall. The news appears to be same old - same old, with one outstanding exception (see below).
There are the U.S. economy (tanking) and the markets, which are looking for any excuse to rejoice and […]

February 27, 2008
(Globe & Mail) Corporate Canada easy prey for foreign buyers
JANET MCFARLAND
Canada’s takeover-friendly securities laws have helped make the country the easiest in the world for foreign acquirers, according to a groundbreaking new study that shows Canadians are the world’s biggest net sellers of corporate assets in terms of the nation’s market size.
An 86-page […]

February 26, 2008
Government of Canada Federal Budget

(CBC News) Flaherty delivers ‘prudence’ in 2008 budget
Budget thin on major initiatives
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty brought down a budget Tuesday that was short on big spending pledges but one he called “prudent” while facing the prospect of a slowing economy.
“Some would have us go down the path to higher […]

February 25, 2008
(Reuters) Beijing has put into effect a “green securities” plan aimed at making it harder for polluters to raise capital and requiring listed companies to disclose more information about their environmental records. The plan is part of a drive by the State Environmental Protection Administration to enlist other government agencies to give financial […]

Margaret Lefebvre will introduce her colleague and good friend, George Kesteven, president of the Canadian Association of Income Funds (CAIF) - an organization with dwindling membership in the face of the Conservatives’ taxation policy with regard to income trusts.
Director of Investor Relations for PrimeWest Energy Trust since 2001, George is in a unique position […]

This does not bode well for transparency under a Clinton II White House. We are curious whether there may be a Georgetown Foreign Service School connection here.

After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton
(NYT) Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque […]

29 January 2008
Finance Minister backs injections of overseas cash; plans national security test for foreign takeovers
TARA PERKINS, Globe& Mail
State-owned investment vehicles are good for the economies of countries they invest in, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says, having recently met with officials from what’s believed to be the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund.
“There is no […]

December 27, 2007
Keeping aircraft flying safely is a $43-billion global market. ACTS CEO Chahram Bolouri wants to make his company the leader in the Americas for maintenance, repair and overhaul
ROBERT GIBBENS, Freelance
When ACTS’s CEO Chahram Bolouri looks toward Dorval from his sparse office in St. Laurent’s Technoparc, he’s thinking of a $43-billion global market for […]

December 5 2007
Tony Juniper
Opinion, The Guardian
For decades, the world’s major companies have been increasingly successful in telling governments to keep out of their way. They have demanded that environmental problems be dealt with on a voluntary basis using market forces, and corporate lobby groups have said over and over again that customer demand will solve […]

Guy Stanley was recently named to the post of Director, Technology and Innovation, at the Conference Board of Canada. He also teaches the NAFTA course and Global Competitiveness at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University. He is the author or co-author of five business books, three major federal government reports, and many articles in […]