Siemens is sick and tired of Canadian politicians interfering in their rail business. I heard this firsthand from a Siemens rail engineer: he said that Canadian diplomats would routinely run interference on behalf of Bombardier Transportation in foreign countries. Of course these deals are much larger than such grievances, but all the same, Bombardier clearly has a reputation for not-so-competitive practices. The Alstrom-Siemens deal doesn't surprise in the least.