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The article provides information on the ten biggest merger & acquisition (M&A) deals in Canada from January 2007 to January 2008. Russia's OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel took over LionOre Mining International Ltd. for $6.5 billion on June 27, 2007. Abitbi-Consolidated Inc. and Bowater Inc. have merged in order to compete better in the market for paper products. Canetic Resources Trust was acquired by Penn West Energy Trust in a $5.5 billion stock and debt transaction.

The article features Purdy Crawford, a counsel for Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, and his efforts to rescue the Canadian securities market that had seized up amid international panic about the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. It notes the objections raised by investors against the plan Crawford introduced to rescue the market for nonbank-issued asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP). Top banking officials in Canada say that Crawford deserves the biggest share of credit for containing the crisis in the ABCP market.

The article discusses the competition between the U.S. and Canada over the price of lumber. The trade war between the two countries has resulted in 26 cases, all paper-intensive. A tentative agreement that would divide $5 billion in customs duties may not be approved by Canadian lumber producers. It provides a historical background on the lumber wars which started in 1982.

The article reports that investors who hold three percent of Canadian asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) notes objected to the legal protection that the ABCP restructuring plan gives to third parties, and tried to block the plan, but on August 18, 2008, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the plan is fair and legal. It is said that the plan provides for releases of third parties in the context of an insolvency proceeding.