The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Canada's recent merger boom helped the country set new deal records in the third quarter. The Globe's Jacqueline Nelson writes that high values stand out against the backdrop of slower global deal making and muted economic growth. Worldwide merger-and-acquisition activity declined 22 per cent in the first nine months of the year from the year-earlier period, while large corporate tie-ups propelled Canadian deal makers to new heights. Investment bankers and lawyers worked on more than $101.6-billion (U.S.) worth of M&A deals involving a Canadian buyer or seller in the third quarter of the year. The only quarter that has seen a higher M&A tally was the beginning of 2000 thanks to BCE's Nortel spinoff. In September, Enbridge moved to acquire Spectra Energy in a transaction valued at $43-billion. This was one of several significant cross-border deals where Canadian firms sought acquisition targets in the U.S. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan shopped at home, striking a deal worth $18-billion for Agrium. These ultrahigh merger values are divergent to the volume of deals recorded, which has largely been trending downward over the past few years.