ABSTRACT
The evolution of Canadian national policy on foreign investment is a political matter—the product of decisions by political leaders responding to their perceptions of the desires and needs of their constituents. It is appropriate therefore to start this analysis with a survey of Canadian attitudes toward foreign-owned companies. One of the few clear-cut facts in the current Canadian picture is the strong trend in recent years toward less favorable views of foreign investment. The trend in attitudes cannot be directly correlated with changes in the actual foreign investment situation. While the issues surrounding foreign investment occasionally make good headlines, by and large they are rather subtle, sophisticated matters, not readily appreciated by the general public or even elites not closely associated with them. The perception that greater independence through reduction of foreign investment would carry an economic cost leads naturally to putting that choice directly to the people.
