David Olive: Canada should take Stelco back from its American owner — before it’s too late - Toronto Star

Britain saved its steel industry. Canada should do the same with the Hamilton, Ont.-based steelmaker.

A man holds a sign during a rally outside the Stelco steel plant in Hamilton, Ont., on Oct. 29.

David Olive is a Toronto-based business columnist for the Star.

There is a case for nationalizing Stelco. 

It starts in Scunthorpe in northern England, where the British government formally nationalized British Steel in July to rescue the jobs of its 4,000 employees.

London wasn’t about to let the factory’s Chinese owner, Jingye, close British Steel and sell the plant for scrap. It seized British Steel, over the fierce objections of both Jingye and Beijing, and placed the steelmaker under government ownership.

At stake were the jobs but also an asset of strategic value to the country. When he announced British Steel’s nationalization, then-prime minister Keir Starmer said that “Today’s decision secures the future of steelmaking in the U.K., protects skilled jobs and safeguards a vital national capability.”

The drama underway at Hamilton, Ont.-based Stelco Holdings is strikingly similar.