Barriers To BHP's Potash Deal Fading But Shareholder Opposition Remains

Canadian officials understand that "selective protectionism ... has long-run potential costs that are really antithetical to Canada's interests," said Steven Globerman, a professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., who authored a government-sponsored study of Canada's foreign-investment laws. "The federal government is aware of this. I don't think they're just going to roll over for the province and say, 'Okay, you don't want it so it's not going to be.'"