Letters: The Bay Down Bad
March 23, 2024Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this installment we have:
Now let’s dive in.
The Bay is Bankrupt, Canada Can Do BetterThe Hudson’s Bay Company, Canada's founding monopoly, is bankrupt. Founded in 1670, the Bay is the oldest corporation in Canada, predating the country itself, and profoundly shaped the early development of our nation. The holder of a royally granted monopoly over the fur trade in the lands that now make up a third of modern day Canada, the birth of the country is inextricable from the rise and fall of the Hudson’s Bay Company. But while Canadians understandably mourn the loss of an icon of our proud history, the company’s collapse is a reminder that Canada cannot look to the past for the answers to today’s problems. In contrast to the Americans, who in their founding threw off the monopoly of the East India Company, Canada’s long-running embrace of monopoly has made us susceptible to the economic instability and vulnerability to external shocks we face today. The economic model that favoured consolidation over competition has failed to deliver its promised benefits. Instead of nostalgia, the failure of the Bay should inspire urgency for the need to transition to an economy focused on true competition and resilience. In the face of external threats, Canada has the chance to learn from the mistakes of the past and forge a new economic path forward. As the federal election begins in Canada, CAMP encourages policy makers of all political stripes to adopt an anti-monopoly agenda to set the country on this new path. A moment of crisis is a pivotal opportunity—one where Canada can decisively break from our monopoly past and begin to build an economy that delivers for everyday Canadians and safeguard the independence of our nation. 📚 What We’re Reading 📚
Apple Gets in the Way of AwesomeCanadian entrepreneur Eric Migicovsky is a frequent flyer when it comes to tangling with tech monopolies. In 2024, Migicovsky’s Beeper tried to break down barriers between mobile operating systems by making texting between iPhones and Androids a seamless process. Apple didn’t love that, and worked hard to shut Beeper down on cooked up security grounds. Now, Apple is once again trying to get in the way of awesome products for consumers. Long before Beeper, Migicovsky kicked off the smartwatch craze with the development of Pebble all the way back in 2013. Now returning to his roots, the entrepreneur is encountering the exact same resistance from Apple as he resurrects the legacy smartwatch brand with new models. In a blog post this week, Migicovsky lays out the laundry list of restrictions that Pebble has encountered in trying to offer a seamless experience for both iPhone and Android users. These hurdles that third-party developers face on iOS restrict market entry and innovation, effectively protecting Apple's extensive ecosystem and market share at the expense of users who want options and variety. Apple has always been a famously closed system, but this attitude is now matched with worrying signs that the company is losing its innovative energy. Influential tech analyst John Gruber recently penned a lengthy piece detailing broader concerns with Apple's internal management and ability to deliver products like the badly lagging Apple Intelligence. As Apple loses the ability to innovate, we should expect to see increasingly defensive behaviour and aggressive restrictions against competitors. To break this downward spiral, Apple desperately needs antitrust action to break these bad habits and get the company back to work on being awesome. 📰 CAMP in the News 📰
Trump Fires FTC Commissioners in Brazen PowerplayThis week, President Donald Trump broke with nearly a century of tradition by attempting to fire Democrat Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter. The move marks an unprecedented escalation in the politicization of the American administrative state and a hand out to Big Tech special interests. Bedoya and Slaughter have been staunch defenders of the interests of American citizens. The dismissals raise alarms about regulatory independence, particularly given Bedoya and Slaughter were actively involved in significant antitrust actions against companies owned by Trump's billionaire supporters. These terminations will disrupt ongoing enforcement efforts attempting to protect competition and lead to a dangerous acceleration of monopolistic practices. As American Economic Liberties Project’s Matt Stoller points out, this move undermines the FTC's ability to effectively regulate powerful corporate interests and could clear a path for the unchecked growth of dominant players at the expense of American interests. Around the world, the integrity and independence of regulatory bodies like the FTC are vital for maintaining fair competition and protecting public interests. The current situation underscores the urgency of defending regulatory independence from crass political manipulation and corporate influence. If you have any monopoly tips or stories you'd like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca
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Canada's Fight Against Monopoly Power
You’re Probably Getting Screwed
The economic relationship between the United States and Canada has reached an inflection point and fighting monopoly power has the opportunity to transform it. This week I spoke with Keldon Bester of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project about trade and the state of antimonopoly advocacy in Canada.
Letters: Calling for Consolidation
March 16, 2024Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this installment we have:
Now let’s dive in.
One More Merger and I’ll Be Fine: Resisting Calls for ConsolidationAmid escalating trade tensions and economic nationalism, Corporate Canada is making the case for domestic consolidation. Recent commentary in the Globe and Mail provides a window into the pressure that board rooms are putting on policy makers: let large domestic corporations merge to allegedly better withstand U.S. economic pressure. This would be a novel idea had Canada not spent the past 40 years buying the same story to disastrous results. In favouring so-called efficiencies over actual competition, Canada’s competition policy long encouraged consolidation in the hopes that these companies would go forth and compete internationally. The result? Domestic monopolies harvested gains from Canadian citizens while largely sticking within our own borders. The history of countries that knew better shows us that building robust, resilient international competitors requires vigorous competition at home first. While the ongoing tariff drama understandably has Canadians on edge, it cannot become an excuse to double down on past strategies at the expense of Canadians. The energy behind slogans like Mark Carney’s “Canada Strong” and Pierre Poilievre’s “Canada First” are a welcome dose of pride in all the things that make this country great. But it's critical that support for domestic industry doesn't become a blank check to further erode competition and squeeze already strapped Canadians. This moment calls for an agenda that charts a course for a more independent and dynamic economy, not a retread of the mistakes of the past. 📚What We’re Reading📚
Exposing the Hidden Takeover of Canada's EconomyAs part of its Never 51 series, Social Capital Partners (SCP) has shed light on the quiet yet harmful trend of serial acquisitions reshaping Canada's economy. While large mergers capture headlines, smaller buyouts, often driven by private equity firms, evade regulatory scrutiny and gradually consolidate market power unnoticed. The result is fewer consumer choices, rising costs, declining job quality, and weakened economic resilience. Examples abound: over half of Canada's veterinary emergency clinics and a significant share of funeral homes have fallen under private equity ownership, inflating prices and reducing quality. SCP emphasizes the urgent need to address these "under-the-radar" mergers, which disproportionately benefit large, often U.S.-based firms at the expense of Canadian economic independence. SCP proposes practical solutions: lower merger notification thresholds, update guidelines to explicitly target serial acquisitions, enhance data collection on buyouts, improve public transparency around mergers, and mandate alerts for changes in ownership. By adopting these policies, Canada can reclaim control from hidden monopolies and build genuine economic resilience amid unprecedented uncertainty. U.S. DOJ Stands Firm on Google Search RemediesIn a positive development in the ongoing U.S. antitrust case against Google, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified its commitment to structural remedies to dismantle the company’s monopoly in search. Despite Google's efforts to influence the Trump administration away from drastic measures, the DOJ insists that significant structural changes, including the divestiture of the Chrome browser, remain necessary to remedy competition concerns. The DOJ's updated remedies also propose opening Google’s search index and ad services to competitors, providing content creators more autonomy over data usage, and imposing transparency measures on Google's AI investments. The remedies trial, set to begin in April, will focus on solutions to Google's self-preferencing practices and its interdependent product ecosystems. The outcome could profoundly affect the digital economy and set new precedents for Big Tech regulation, and underscores the bipartisan enthusiasm for stronger antitrust enforcement in the United States. If you have any monopoly tips or stories you'd like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca
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Letters: An Anti-Monopoly Agenda
March 9, 2024Welcome to Letters from CAMP, a newsletter on anti-monopoly activity in Canada and abroad, brought to you by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. In this installment we have:
Now let’s dive in.
Charting a Course for an Anti-Monopoly EconomyThe past week of tariff drama has shown that Canada’s monopoly problem is far from a domestic phenomenon. By becoming overly reliant on a single country, Canada has allowed its economic future to be monopolized. More than ever, Canadians need to take an anti-monopoly approach to all levels of our economy. This week, CAMP released our Canadian Anti-Monopoly Agenda, highlighting how Canada can confront concentrated corporate power and create a more resilient and vibrant economy. The agenda highlights important policy steps across several key sectors to ensure that Canadian markets work for Canadians. Decades of pro-monopoly policy has enabled oligopolies to flourish, exploiting consumers and leaving us vulnerable in an increasingly chaotic global system. Now is the time to change course. From groceries to railroads to digital markets, an approach skeptical of centralization and favouring diversity and resilience should be top of mind for policy makers. This means making use of tools far beyond competition law: changing the economics of key markets, encouraging investment in resilient and open access infrastructure, and ensuring consumers and businesses are protected from exploitation and discrimination. In the coming year, CAMP is committed to working with policymakers, civil society, and industry to turn this vision of an anti-monopoly economy into reality. The past week's events have made it clear that this isn't just about securing a fair deal for Canadians—it’s about protecting our democracy from monopolists of all kinds, whether companies or countries. 📚What We’re Reading📚
The Big Tech Threat to Canada’s SovereigntyAs Canada navigates an increasingly hostile economic relationship with the U.S., the role of Big Tech firms—Google, Meta, and Amazon—has emerged as a significant threat to the future of Canada’s sovereignty. Writing for the Toronto Star, CAMP executive director, Keldon Bester highlights how Canada's deep integration with these dominant U.S.-based tech platforms, initially seen as beneficial, now poses significant risks as potential leverage in our ongoing political and economic dispute. Platforms like Google, Amazon and Meta have become critical infrastructure for information, commerce, and communication, leaving Canada vulnerable if these companies decide to pull these services or manipulate operations for political ends. As economic pressures like tariffs become less politically appealing for the U.S. administration, alternative pressure points—such as digital service restrictions—could increasingly be used to exert influence without domestic repercussions. As an election looms, strengthening digital sovereignty must be a top priority for the incoming Canadian federal government. While Canadians were able to paper over this risk in previous administrations, protecting our economic and democratic autonomy hinges on reclaiming control of our digital infrastructure. 📰 CAMP in the News 📰
Cracking Open America’s Egg CrisisThe U.S. egg market's recent turmoil continues to reveal the dangers of extreme industry concentration. With over 200 companies controlling nearly the entirety of egg production, the sector has proven vulnerable when avian flu outbreaks hit. A Globe and Mail report this week detailed how the concentrated production model amplified disease impact, leading to significant supply disruptions and record-high egg prices. Contrast this with Canada's comparatively stable egg market, supported by a decentralized supply management system. Smaller, distributed farms have buffered Canada against similar crises, demonstrating that diversification and effective regulation can mitigate supply shocks. However, as CAMP’s Plow to Pantry report documented last year, Canada remains vulnerable in other areas of agriculture, where corporate consolidation continues unchecked. But the consolidation of America’s egg markets has made it vulnerable to monopoly exploitation as much as disease outbreaks. In the first of a two-part investigative series, American anti-monopoly experts Basel Musharbash and Matt Stoller show that a supply crunch is only part of the story. While national egg production has been reduced by single digits, the largest American egg producer Cal-Maine foods has seen its profits more than triple since the onset of the outbreak. This work highlights that diverse supply chains serve two beneficial purposes, increasing resilience and ensuring that powerful firms are not able to take advantage of market fluctuations. To protect consumers and producers across the economy, policy makers must understand the value of diverse, competitive markets. If you have any monopoly tips or stories you'd like to share, drop us a line at hello@antimonopoly.ca
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Opinion | How Big Tech — not just Trump tariffs — is now the real threat to Canada’s sovereignty
Keldon Bester, Executive Director at CAMP, gives his opinions in the Toronto Star on how big tech — not just Trump tariffs — is now the real threat to Canada’s sovereignty.
Read the article here.
Brief | A Canadian Anti-Monopoly Agenda
Canadians find ourselves at a critical juncture in our history. While inflation is slowing, the cost-of-living crisis it brought on continues to weigh heavily on Canadians who no longer feel they are getting a fair deal in their own country. On the heels of this economic strain, the country’s economic model is entering a period of unprecedented uncertainty as the relationship with our closest neighbour and ally fundamentally changes for the worse.
In the face of this uncertainty, Canada must chart an economic course that fosters greater resilience and independence at home. An anti-monopoly approach, skeptical of dependence and emphasizing diversity and resilience, is a key component to building this kind of economy.
Pulling together ideas from a diverse range of policy areas; CAMP is proud to release its Canadian Anti-Monopoly Agenda, a series of policy solutions to support Canada's effort to reinforce our economy amid growing global uncertainty. Across key areas of our economy - food, housing, transportation, communication, digital markets, and banking - policy makers at all levels of government have an opportunity to chart an anti- monopoly future for Canada’s economy.
Read the full policy brief here