Canada tries to flex a little muscle…
In an unprecedented move, the Canadian government blocked the sale of the country’s large space equipment and satellite maker Thursday to an American company, amid concerns over Canada’s sovereignty and U.S. national security laws.
The rejection of a $1.3 billion bid by Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis for the space operations of MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates is the first under Canada’s 23-year-old foreign investment law.
The proposal raised sensitive issues about Canada’s Arctic sovereignty that crossed party lines. It also revived a debate about control of Canada’s aerospace industry that stretched back to a decision in 1959 to cancel the development of a Canadian fighter jet in favor of purchasing American aircraft.