The chief executive of construction giant Aecon Group said he’s “bullish” on Canada despite mounting warnings from some business leaders that the country’s global competitiveness is declining.
In an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday, John Beck said that the Calgary-based company doesn’t agree with recent criticisms that Canada risks losing foreign investment amid aggressive U.S. tax cuts and trade uncertainty.
“We’re at the opposite end of that. We’re very enthusiastic, we’re very bullish on Canada,” Beck said. “Certainly in our sector – which is the infrastructure sector, the nuclear sector, the energy sector – [we’re] active. We’re building pipelines, refurbishing transit. We’re building roads, building bridges, tunnels, subways – and we are investing.”
According to a Conference Board of Canada report released Monday, Canadian business confidence in the first quarter of the year plunged to its lowest level in 18 months.
A proposed $1.2-billion takeover of Aecon by China Communications Construction Co Ltd. is currently being reviewed by the Canadian government on national security grounds.
Beck said that while there’s a “huge amount of work for us in Canada,” the sale to its Chinese rival – if approved by Ottawa – would help Aecon better compete against foreign competitors even at home.
“Nothing changes in terms of day-to-day activity except we’ll have a much stronger balance sheet, and we can toe-to-toe compete with international contractors that have invaded the market in Canada,” Beck said.
“We need a more level playing field. Then we need to bulk up to be able to match them.”
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