Resistance From Surprising Corner Sank Bid for Potash.

OTTAWA -- Based on his past, Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister of Canada, should have been the least of BHP Billiton's worries when the company began a bid to acquire the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the world's largest fertilizer maker. Mr. Harper studied economics at the University of Calgary, a school where free market thinking predominates. And even before entering politics, he advocated for keeping government out of the business of corporations and individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]