Poll suggests Albertans are wary of Chinese investment

CALGARY -- A survey released today suggests Albertans are wary of Chinese investment in the province -- especially full ownership.

The University of Alberta's China Institute polled 1,210 people right before China National Offshore Oil Co. announced its controversial $15.1-billion deal to take over Calgary-based Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY).

The survey found 37 per cent of Albertans agreed partial Chinese investment in Alberta is acceptable, with 36 per cent disagreeing and 27 per cent undecided.

But the numbers were much more extreme when it came to full ownership -- only 15 per cent agreed it is acceptable, 64 per cent disagreed and 21 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed.

Attitudes were divided starkly along political lines, with supporters of the right-wing Wildrose Party much less enthusiastic about Chinese investment than Progressive Conservative, Liberal, NDP and other voters.

The telephone poll's estimated sampling error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points at 95 per cent confidence.