Globalive rewrites foreign-ownership rules, opposition warns

[CHIMO]

The Harper government's unusual move to overrule the country's telecommunications regulator to let Globalive Wireless Management Corp. enter Canada's wireless phone market amounts to rewriting foreign-ownership restrictions by stealth, opposition politicians say.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/globalive-rewrites-foreign-ownership-rules-opposition-warns/article1399008/

So what opposition party or opposition is going to point out that NAFTA now permits similar structures to occur?

Who! What group, if no politician will do it!

[daleo]

1. I wonder if there is a "watching brief" in someone's future

This struck me as vaguely Mulroneyesque, as far as government interference in business affairs goes (recall that Mulroney stacked the Air Canada board prior to the airbus purchase, and was fortunate enough to receive a highly paid "watching brief" position from Schreiber after he retired).

[CHIMO]

2. CEP VS. GLOBALIVE

By the end of this week, Canada's newest wireless company, Globalive could be up and running. As It Happens spoke with the company's chairman Anthony Lacavera on Friday - who was obviously elated at the time. And, why wouldn't he be? The federal government had just overturned a decision by the CRTC which effectively allowed Mr. Lacavera's company to enter the Canadian cellphone market. Previously, the CRTC had refused their entry, ruling that Globalive violated Canadian ownership rules. For Mr. Lacavera, Friday's announcement was a huge win.

But that decision is already getting bad reception. Canada's biggest telecommunications union says allowing Globalive to operate in Canada was a bad call and they're going to court to try and and overturn what was already ... overturned.

Dave Coles is the president of the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union. We reached him in Ottawa.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/latestshow.html
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20091215-aih-1.wmv

About 15 min into Part 1.

So where is the left on this? Is there a left?