A miracle occurred on May 9, 2008, right here in Canada. For the first time in 23 years, that routinely spineless entity known as the Government of Canada said “No” to a foreign takeover of a Canadian company.

Literally thousands of foreign acquisitions had been approved since 1985, when then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney declared Canada “open for business.” Among the fallen were such Canadian icons as Falconbridge, Inco, Domtar, Algoma Steel, Hudson’s Bay Company, Stelco, Fairmont Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels, Molson’s, Labatt’s, and the Montreal Canadiens.

Indeed, the Investment Canada Act, which formally took effect in 1989, mandated Investment Canada to shill for more foreign investment, so much so that some of us imagined that somewhere, perhaps not even in Canada, there was a giant machine for approving or rejecting foreign takeovers that automatically stamped “Yes” to every request for approval made to it. Was it possible that, finally, the machine itself had rebelled in boredom?

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – October 2008: Foreign Ownership.