Within this tale of small town politics, is the news that James Bezan briefly objected CNOOC’s proposed acquisition of Nexen.

I would like to note that I am strongly opposed to this deal, and I have raised my concerns directly with Cabinet as well as with the Prime Minister. As I have stated to my colleagues in Cabinet, due to China’s dismal record on human rights and freedoms, I take particular exception to allowing a state-owned company from China to purchase a Canadian company…

As a Conservative, I am in favor of keeping markets open in Canada, however I do not support allowing state-owned and state-controlled enterprises to take over publicly traded Canadian companies, as these state-owned and controlled business [sic] are not on the same level playing field as other free enterprising corporate entities.