Please tell me you're not serious!

The current Federal Government in Canada, led by arch-conservative Stephen Harper, is generally unwavering in its advocacy of "free" markets.  Generally, but not always: Harper's Tories have shown a surprising proclivity to intervene in foreign takeovers of Canadian business. It even turned down a couple of big transactions -- the London Stock Exchange's proposed acquisition of the Toronto exchange, and BHP Billiton's planned purchase of Potash Corp. -- on the grounds that they would not have served the national interest.

This might be unexpected behavior for a right-wing government, but hostility toward foreign investment has always been a touchstone for Canadian nationalists -- a grouping which includes, among others, the Maple Leaf-waving folks at the Toronto Star.  Even so, it's hard to credit this totally bizarre column by the paper's business columnist, David Olive, about the merger deal between Burger King and Tim Hortons.  Olive argues that the deal is illegal under Canada's vague and convoluted foreign investment rules, because it will not bring any net economic benefit to Canada. It's not clear how he knows that, but that's not the most amazing thing in the column.  Right at the outset, he describes the deal as "yet another blow to Canadian economic sovereignty"!

Whaaaat? I mean, you can maybe make a case that it's important for the country's leading financial exchange to be locally owned, and you can perhaps say that potash reserves should be developed at a pace determined by Canadians rather than Australians. But to make the same case about a downmarket purveyor of coffee and fast food shows an almost comical lack of perspective.

Canada is already a laughing stock south of the border thanks to the antics of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.  You can only imagine how much fun the Kimmels and Fallons of the world would have if the government actually tried to block the deal.  That's not going to happen: the Harperites are crowing that the takeover proves that "Canada is open for business".  That's only slightly more true than some of David Olive's assertions -- just ask BHP Billiton or the LSX, neither of whom will be in any rush to commit capital here any time soon.  Still,  it should at least mean that the country avoids an embarrassing international spat over a bunch of coffee shops.