By a large margin, business leaders and CEOs on the COMPAS panel call for the federal government to impose tough conditions on the oil sands sale to a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Panelists said that each of the following considerations should prompt the Government of Canada to stall or block the sale: China’s legal system, poor health and environmental practices, human rights abuses against minorities, support for North Korea, and support for dangerous regimes in the Middle East.

The main reason for ultimately allowing the sale to proceed is that this would ”send a signal to U. S. decision-makers that Alberta has alternative markets for its oil sands, regardless of the environmental concerns routinely raised within the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House.”

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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