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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper set aside the recommendation of Investments Canada and announced on Wednesday the rejection of a $40-billion offer from Australian mining giant BHP Billiton to buy Potash Corp.

Harper’s decision, which apparently took political factors into consideration, is a victory for Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall who had mounted a lobby against the BHP buy-in because of potential lost income for the province. Three other premiers and Canadian businessmen supported Wall.

This is the second time that Ottawa rejected a major foreign takeover, which observers said has a major implication for foreign investors because of Canada’s message to the world that the country is open for business.

Industry Minister Tony Clement said the federal government’s decision is final after Ottawa concluded that the BHP offer did not provide overall benefits to Canada. He stressed Canada is open to foreign investment, but the offers must be beneficial to Canada.

Until Clement’s announcement, BHP was confident it met the net benefit requirement of Investment Canada and thought the company would get Harper’s green light. According to Potash, BHP is one of 15 companies that had expressed interest in bidding for the mining firm, but only the Australian company made a formal bid.

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