Canadian Regulator Said to Favor Keeping Bar on Foreign Control

Konrad von Finckenstein, Canada's broadcast and telecommunications regulator, is expected to urge lawmakers to keep in place rules that bar foreigners from owning majority stakes in companies.

The chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is slated to testify April 13 at a parliamentary committee studying Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plans to attract foreign investment and spur competition in the industry. Von Finckenstein will recommend foreign control be limited to 49 percent, from about 47 percent now, while urging the government to simplify ownership rules, said the people, who requested anonymity.