Canadian Aerospace Industry in Jeopardy Says Layton

A CBC report tells us that NDP leader Jack Layton is contemplating legal action against the sale of Canadian aerospace technology branch of MDA, a company based in Vancouver, at the basis of Canadian space innovations the Canadarm and the Radarsat-2 satellite to American interests.

"We're not ruling anything in or out at this stage," said Layton. "I don't want to step too far out on this because, needless to say, those who might oppose what we're doing might want to find out exactly what's in our playbook."

While the $1.3B deal still requires the sign off of Industry Minister Jim Prentice, Layton hopes to put pressure against the deal. The American firm looking to purchase the Canadian interests, Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis, says it will respect all agreements made with the Canadian government. Critics of the sale explain they fear loss of jobs, and that it will lead to a loss of control over technology developed with the aid of millions of Canadian taxpayer dollars. The deadline for Prentice's decision is April 19.