The company delivering gas to homes and businesses in London, Ontario, is Enbridge. A Canadian company, as far as I know, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The biggest name in natural gas heating and electric cooling equipment in London is Reliance Home Comfort. Many of its customers believe that it too is a Canadian operation. It was but it isn't today.
Originally, Reliance was owned by Union Gas. Today Union Gas is no more having been taken over by Enbridge. And Reliance, its connection to Union Gas severed years ago, is now controlled by the family of Hong Kong-based Chinese-Canadian businessman Victor Li.
Have these changes been good for London? Have they been good for Ontario? On the surface, it would seem a larger share of the money generated by this residential and commercial gas business may have once circulated throughout the city and province, for the most part. Now, with the Hong Kong and Bermuda connections, a lot of the profits may be leaving the country.
I am not a financial wizard. I cannot say if the present set-up is better or worse for Londoners, for Canadians. But one thing seems certain, it is better for the governments of Hong Kong and Bermuda.
