The Conservative government will be watching for any national security implications in the event that BlackBerry Ltd. is sold, says federal Treasury Board President Tony Clement.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference - where technology companies present their products to government officials - Mr. Clement said Ottawa's position for now is to let events play out.
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'What we want is obviously a stable environment,' he said, when asked if the government wants BlackBerry to remain Canadian-owned. 'I think that we'll let the marketplace respond. We have a role to play obviously which involves national security and making sure that what occurs is in the public interest and we take that responsibility seriously. It's not my place here to speculate on what would or would not be inside or offside that. So we'll let it play out in the marketplace and if and when the government has to respond, we certainly will.'
Earlier this week, Ottawa rejected a proposed foreign takeover of a division of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. by Egypt's Accelero Capital Holdings on national security grounds.
Federal Industry Minister James Moore issued a statement that said his decision was based on a review of the national security provisions of the Investment Canada Act, which governs foreign takeovers.
The federal industry minister is the senior minister responsible for such decisions. Mr. Clement is a former industry minister. As President of the Treasury Board, he is responsible for government-wide information technology projects.
Mr. Clement said he is confident that Canada's technology sector will remain strong, including in Waterloo, Ont. where Blackberry Ltd is headquartered.
'Regardless of whatever happens, Waterloo has a great future and there's going to be some great new products that are going to be springing up either in Waterloo, or Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal. Wherever we've got bright people working on innovation,' he said.
Mr. Clement said the government remains hopeful that Blackberry will 'get through' its restructuring process.
'They've got a lot of customers, tens of millions of customers around the world,' he said. 'They've had success in the past and we're all very hopeful that they will get through to the other side of what is going to be obviously a restructuring of their mission and of their product, whatever happens.'
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