MP Hopes To Enable More Foreign Uranium Investment

MP Hopes To Enable More Foreign Uranium Investment

Friday, September 18, 2009 at 13:13

 

 

A private member’s bill has been launched in the House of Commons aimed at freeing up more foreign investment in the province’s uranium sector.

 

Brad Trost, the MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt, is the author of the act.

 

He feels there are too many restrictions on investors from Europe and Asia, who want to buy stakes and

partnerships in uranium mining operations.

 

He says Saskatchewan companies are also being handcuffed when it comes to looking for outside investment.

 

Trost says he knows some people feel Canada shouldn’t be selling off companies to other countries, but he feels that view is short-sighted.

 

“I say we want their money — bring it in — and we want Canadian companies to expand abroad, and bring Canadian values everywhere. And if we’re going to do that, we have to be fair to companies that are coming in,” Trost says.

 

He cites AREVA, a French uranium company that has done a lot of work in northern Saskatchewan, as an example of a “great corporate citizen.”

 

Trost says a provision has been woven into the bill that will allow concerns for national security to be taken into account.

 

He adds if the bill is passed, it could mean thousands of more jobs for the province.