KEEPING BEIJING OUT OF SUDBURYStan Sudol, writing in the Friday, Oct 1 edition of the National Post (Keep Beijing out of Sudbury – op ed page), warns against allowing China to purchase Noranda Mines.
The Financial Post has had at least three articles, all saying the same thing. This is interesting in that the most rabid of the Financial Post free-marketeers, including Terence Corcoran and Peter Foster, were calling for government intervention to prevent the sale.
If you find this a little strange coming from those who express abhorrence for government intervention in the market, and an undying belief in property rights, so you should. Presumably the shareholders of Noranda are property owners, and have property rights.
I wondered why the opposition to the Noranda sale was so hysterical.
So we come to the Stan Sudol article, and the reason becomes clear.
“The Canadian government must not allow Noranda’s 60% controlling interest in Falconbridge to fall in to Chinese government control,” writes Sudol.
Apparently Falconbridge is the world’s third largest producer of nickel. Further, according to Sudol, “Nickel…is critical to the health of the US economy, including its military/industrial complex.”
He points out the refining and mining of “this vital metal for national defence” is a specialized business. Four countries, Russia, Canada, Australia, and New Caledonia account for 60% or world production. The two largest concentrations of nickel are in Russia and Canada.
But guess what country’s missing from that list – yep, the United States. Apparently the US doesn’t have any nickel mines at all, which means, according to Sudol, “…the United States would come to a grinding halt without secure supplies of this crucial metal.”
Nickel is used in the manufacture of “jet engines, missile technology, and space applications”.
Sudol warns, “If there is a military conflict between China and the United States…where does Sudbury/Falconbridge nickel go?”
He concludes with, “Falconbridge Nickel Mines must remain in Canadian or US control. It is an issue of paramount importance. The military, industrial and economic security of both the United States and Canada is at stake.”
So there’s the reason for the hyperbolic reaction of the right wing to the impending sale.
It has nothing to do with free market at all; it has to do with ensuring the military might of the United States.
Presumably so they can continue cramming free markets down our throats.