Canada is currently the third largest gas producer and holds the third-largest proven oil reserves. Canada for the first time last year became the top destination for Chinese investments abroad, beating out its southern neighbor, the US. Canada’s controversial treaty with China could be ratified any day now. The Canadian government says it protects Canadian investments in China. Critics call it a sell-out. Last year, Chinese firms spent more than $20 billion in Canada. A large part of the Chinese money went into the contentious $15 billion takeover of Calgary-based Nexen alone, an oil and gas company with major assets in the Canadian oil sands.
It's looking increasingly likely that the Sino-Canadian investment deal will go through, despite opposition that includes environmentalists, native Canadians and regional politicians. Essentially, their shared concern was and is that the agreement violates Canada's best national interests and unduly favors China. The Canadian government argues that this agreement is basically no different than any of the 24 deals already in place with countries like Russia, Venezuela or Egypt. Proponents also point to the fact that many other industrialized countries like Germany have similar bilateral investment pacts with Beijing. They say the goal of this as of all the other treaties is to make it easier and safer for Canadian businesses to invest in China's rapidly evolving economy.
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