The Investment Canada Act, implemented in 1985 by the government of Brian Mulroney, replaced the Foreign Investment Review Agency, which had become a potent symbol of Pierre Trudeau's interventionism. While the new act was explicitly intended to welcome foreign investment (including takeovers) with open arms, it included a "net benefit" test to supposedly protect Canadian interests.
Industry
A lion of Nova Scotian economic development
I've been visiting a neighbour this summer: Robert Manuge, a name at the centre of a defining epoch in Nova Scotian economic history. At 89 and ailing, he's anxious to make a point about economic development then and now. Manuge was general manager of Industrial Estates Ltd., the economic development agency set up by premier Robert Stanfield in 1957. He invited me to his home at rural Lake Annis, Yarmouth County, to sift through a dozen thick scrapbooks assembled by IEL staff at the time.
High noon on forest policy: Is change imminent?
It's nearly high noon over the treetops in Nova Scotia, and the heat is rising. The NDP government is putting the final touches on a new forest strategy, part of a larger natural resources policy review kicked off by the former Tory government and due this year by law. It's the result of decades of public protest over clearcutting, forest spraying and other troubling aspects of industrial forestry.
The question is what to do about a pulp company-driven industry that has left Nova Scotia with one of the worst outcomes in Canada in terms of both economics and forest ecology.
Interactive workshop: The format -- Featuring David Trottier
Aug 27 2011 - 1:00pm
Aug 27 2011 - 3:00pm
Location
National Film Board - Downtown Toronto
150 John St. at Richmond St. W
Toronto, ON M5V 3C3Canada
Phone:
6473765969
43° 38' 56.994" N, 79° 23' 27.3876" W
See map: Google Maps
Contact name:
Daniel Fruman
Contact email:
The case against dams worldwide: Not too big to fail
This is the first of two stories about dams around the world. Part two can be found by clicking here.
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax -- Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- and whether pigs have wings."
Today's seas, while not boiling, are warming significantly but only self-appointed "elite" pigs currently possess synthetic -- aluminum -- wings.
Fatal mining disaster not just tragic, but criminal
Massey Energy runs the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in Montcoal, W.Va., where 29 miners were killed last week. The loss of life is tragic, but the UBB explosion is more than tragic; it is criminal. When corporations are guilty of crimes, however, they don't go to prison, they don't forfeit their freedom -- they just get fined, which often amounts to a slap on the wrist, the cost of doing business. No one makes this clearer than the CEO of Massey Energy, Don Blankenship. He has been the bane of climate-change activists and mine safety advocates for years. This latest mine disaster, if nothing else, will surely bring needed attention to this poster boy for malevolent big business trampling on communities, the environment and workers' rights.
![Murray Dobbin](http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/imagecache/thumbnail/category_pictures/murray dobbin.jpg "Murray Dobbin is a guest senior contributing editor for rabble.ca. Murray has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for 40 years. A board member and researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, he has written five studies for the centre including examinations of charter schools, and "Ten Tax Myths." Murray has been a columnist for the Financial Post and Winnipeg Free Press and contributes guest editorials to the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and other Canadian dailies. He writes a regular "State of the Nation" column for the on-line journal theTyee.ca which is published simultaneously on rabble.ca.
Murray has written five books, including critical profiles of Preston Manning, Kim Campbell and Paul Martin. His "The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen" has been described as a citizens' guide to globalization. He has also prepared radio documentaries for the CBC Radio's Ideas series on subjects including taxes, human rights and the right-wing regime in New
Zealand.
A long time social activist Murray has been involved in many movements from the anti-nuclear movement, to the fights against so-called free trade and public private partnerships. He is the founder of Word Warriors, a project which co-ordinates letter-writing to the editorial pages of newspapers across Canada. He is a Senior Advisor to the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.")