As your editorial rightly suggests, Canadians need to consciously decide whether or not our homegrown industries, especially our natural-resource companies, should be in the hands of non-Canadians. We require a debate in this country and must not allow the acquisitions to occur by default, which is what is happening now.

On Nov. 27, 2006, I tabled a private member's bill in the House of Commons to do just that. Bill C-386, An Act to Amend the Investment Canada Act, will give the government the power, over and above the current economic test that Industry Canada applies, to veto any transaction involving the takeover of a Canadian company, if the government determines that this is not in our national interest.

This test is currently in place in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.