SASKATOON – Debate over strategic natural resources has ignited interest in a Conservative politician’s push to open up Canada’s uranium mining sector to more foreign investment.
Saskatchewan MP Brad Trost says the current policy – which limits foreign companies from owning more than 49 per cent of a Canadian uranium mine – has been a detriment to the province.
He says loosening the rules would encourage investment, create jobs and generate revenue.
The uranium talk comes after Saskatchewan opposed a takeover bid for PotashCorp partly on the basis that Canada’s strategic interests would be put at risk if it sold most of its potash industry to an international company.
But Trost, a former exploration geophysicist, says he has the support of the Saskatchewan government on the uranium issue.
Trost introduced a private members bill last year that would change the policy, although he admits he’s skeptical it will ever be voted upon.
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