The federal government has blocked the sale of the Canadian construction mammoth Aecon Group Inc. to Chinese interests because of reported concerns about national security. Aecon it seems, is just too big and intertwined with Canada’s security, that Ottawa fears the Beijing government might use it to make Canada conform to Chinese interests. It is a fear often heard about dealing with China as expressed by retired diplomats. The contentious deal was between Aecon and China’s CCCC International Holding Ltd., also known as CCCI. It would have been worth $1.5 billion. “As is always the case, we listened to the advice of our national security agencies throughout the multi-step national security review process under the Investment Canada Act,” Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said in a statement Wednesday. “Based on their findings, in order to protect national security, we ordered CCCI not to implement the proposed investment.” Wednesday night there was foreboding expressed by the Chinese embassy and more is expected from the Communist capital in the hours and days to come. CBC
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