Ottawa slams brakes on Potash deal

Industry Minister Tony Clement announced yesterday that the sale of the Saskatchewan fertilizer giant to an Australian firm was not in Canada’s best interest.

No matter what decision Clement made, he was going to face a backlash. Voters in Saskatchewan, where the Conservatives hold 13 of 14 seats, would have been outraged if the sale of Potash Corp. to Australia's BHP Billiton had been allowed, as the Saskatchewan company is viewed by many as a national treasure. Now that the sale has been all but killed, critics are saying Stephen Harper’s government has betrayed its open-market principles and multinational companies will be reluctant to do business in Canada. It is the second time the Harper government has blocked a foreign takeover since 2006. In the previous 20 years, no Canadian government had blocked a foreign deal.