Critics opposing the buyout of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. by CanWest Global Communications Corp. and its American partner stepped up their protest with a new poll suggesting that most Canadians believe cultural sovereignty ought to trump foreign ownership of domestic media.
ACTRA, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting released the results yesterday to jumpstart a debate on the touchy issue of Canadian cultural identity at a time when the federal broadcast regulator is still reviewing the deal.
Their poll suggests that 66 per cent of respondents "believe broadcasting and communications are too important to our national security and cultural sovereignty to allow foreign control of Canadian companies in this sector."
Stephen Waddell, national executive director of ACTRA, said the $2.3 billion takeover of Alliance Atlantis by CanWest and New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. is "foreign ownership by the back door." Goldman Sachs is funding 64 per cent of the acquisition price but CanWest plans to control Alliance Atlantis through a majority of voting shares.
"What in fact happens in boardrooms of Goldman Sachs and CanWest Global is not going to be seen by the public and that is where the real power is exercised," Waddell said.
Goldman Sachs has already assured the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that it is not eyeing control of any Canadian broadcaster. The CRTC held hearings on the takeover last month and will likely issue a decision in early 2008.
Pointing to the poll's other key finding, Waddell said 82 per cent of Canadians agree it is important for the federal government to maintain and build a culture and identity "distinct" from the United States.
Also taking a jab at the government-appointed panel reviewing federal competition laws, he expressed concern that Ottawa might "relax or eliminate" the current 46.7 per cent foreign ownership limit on broadcasting and telecommunications companies.
That panel - headed by Lynton (Red) Wilson, chair of CAE Inc. and a former chief executive of BCE Inc. - was appointed in July amid mounting criticism that foreign takeovers are "hollowing out" this country's corporate landscape. The group also plans to examine whether foreign ownership restrictions in protected sectors, such as telecommunications, discourage competition.
The findings were gathered in telephone interviews conducted between Nov. 15 and 25 by Harris/Decima. They are based on a randomly selected sample of 2,052 Canadians with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Neither Goldman Sachs nor CanWest could be reached for comment.
© Toronto Star
