We learn that the world's top airport, which is Heathrow in the UK, may now be owned by the Spanish. Attempts to keep the Middle East away from US port operation have drawn widespread opprobrium. The Indian Government has intervened on behalf of a business person of descent from their country, to try and wrest steel production away from the French. The stock market has become a prime example of business transcending national considerations. International fund managers and business executives determine the fate of nations with the influence of yesterday's politicians. Does Canada go against this trend?

This week's collaboration between the Toronto Stock Exchange and Thomson Financial certainly has a special Canadian flair about it! The 2 organizations have joined hands to offer market analyses and financial information in an integrated package branded as TSX connect. This handy software will be a powerful stock market tool in the hands of subscribers, providing timely and relevant inputs to stay a jump ahead of the competition. The Toronto Stock Exchange could have sources such software, probably at lower cost, from an emerging market such as India. Thomson Financial could have found bigger customers south of the border or across the Atlantic for its system, but chose a national partner instead.

The boundaries between national and profit objectives are worth reviewing. The US leads the world in handing out pink slips at home while investing heavily in outsourced hand outs abroad. General Motors keeps cutting US jobs and creating new ones in India at the same time! Sure, it helps the bottom line, but what if you can do your fellow citizens a good turn at the same time? That is why the Toronto Stock Market may hold a lesson for the international business and financial communities.