More foreign investment urged by think tank

The C.D. Howe Institute, a Toronto economic think tank, said in a report yesterday that Canada ranked just 25th among 98 countries between 2001 and 2007 when it comes to welcoming foreign investment - seven slots lower than during the 1994-2000 period - and argued that it would benefit from opening the doors a lot wider. "The economic cost of Canada failing to be more open to world economic capital flows is significant," authors Matt Krzepkowski and Jack Mintz said in the report. "We lose out on managerial and technological expertise imported here, as well as the income that comes from Canadian business succeeding abroad." Mr. Krzepkowski and Mr. Mintz did applaud the "important" recommendations made earlier this year by the Competition Policy Review Panel, such as removing foreign ownership limitations in transportation, communications and finance and less government ownership of business enterprises. "Canada should treat domestic businesses the same, regardless of the sector in which they operate, and treat all businesses operating in Canada identically, irrespective of ownership," the authors said.