Nexen deal raises concerns

Re: “Ottawa approves takeover bids of oilsands firms” (Business, Dec. 8)

It’s hard not to see our government’s hypocrisy in the recent takeover of Nexen by CNOOC: a Conservative government that came to power on, among other things, a promise of transparency and fair dealing, forcing through a deal to open up our own natural resources to international corporations with precisely none of the transparency they championed; waiting, instead, to announce the deal at 5 p.m. on a Friday in an (admittedly transparent) attempt to downplay the already-unpopular motion. That’s consistent with a government that routinely ignores and/or undercuts its own economic and scientific advisers in order to, instead, push its ideology ahead of good legislation.

With a decision on the controversial FIPA pending, one can only hope that the news media and the Canadian populace hold the government to a higher standard — one the Conservatives ostensibly set themselves — to participate in an honest and (above all) transparent discussion of an act that deals with such critical Canadian economic and environmental issues. Nick Rudzicz

Montreal

What does it mean to be Canadian when our land and natural resources are sold out to Chinese interests?

What does it mean to be a citizen when our prime minister makes undemocratic decisions permanently affecting the health and future of all?

Should fear for the future, anger at being betrayed by our prime minister and shame over our country’s anti-environmental policy, now be a part of being Canadian?

According to the Native American proverb, “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.”

Prime Minister Harper must protect Canadian democracy and natural resources from corporate greed. Now that Harper has allowed this damaging Nexen takeover, he must not pass the secretive and extreme FIPA. Anna Labarias

Montreal

On Friday at 5 p.m., Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced he had approved the takeover of Nexen by CNOOC, an announcement made when he figured no one would notice.

Remember, this was a party that harped on accountability while in the opposition, but this government is not known for its transparency. On the contrary, when it isn’t acting in sneaky ways, it resorts to bulldozer tactics to have its politics adopted. This isn’t the time to let our guard down. Let us put this government on notice that we are watching it and that we don’t trust it any farther than we can throw it. Michèle Gyselinck

Pierrefonds

I see Stephen Harper’s abuse of the power he was entrusted with by less than a majority of the people of Canada as being deplorable, undignified and un-Canadian. It makes one wonder what in fact he is motivated by — certainly not the values that have come to exemplify what Canada means, not only to every citizen of this great country, but as a beacon of light for the rest of the world to try to emulate.

Between this deal with CNOOC, the passing of ridiculously convoluted omnibus bills, the proroguing of Parliament, some very doubtful election tactics and the use of extremely negative advertising, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of all things that have made Canada stand out in the world as something refreshingly different and truly enviable. Andre Vincelli

Dorval

» I guess we’ve been cnoocered.

Howard M. Greenfield

Montreal