The future of competition law in Canada
"The one that has the biggest opportunity to change the future of competition law going forward is opening up meaningful private access including damages to deter anti-competitive conduct, de-centralizing enforcement, keeping the Bureau prominent, but allowing individual companies to bring suits," Bester says. "The Bureau can't be everywhere, and the Bureau brings its own institutional thinking to how it approaches the law, so de-centralizing that is very important."
Northeastern Ontario mobile customers frustrated by lack of choice and rising costs
"Customers shouldn't have to be pursuing regulators and the big companies for relief, says Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project."
Switch carriers? How? Ottawa gives mixed messages over rising mobile prices
"As opposed to companies fighting for customers, it's customers hunting around for the best deal in a not-that-great marketplace."
Federal government was wise to reappoint Matthew Boswell as Commissioner of Competition
Canada’s competition law undergoes an important transition from stagnation to rejuvenation, it is welcome news that the government has reappointed Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell for an additional two years.
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HSBC sale to RBC 'a sad day for Canadian mortgage consumers,' expert says
"While commitments related to the financing of affordable housing appear positive, there is little in the way of protecting Canadian homeowners in a higher interest rate environment," he said in a statement.
CAMP Response to the Approval of RBC's Takeover of HSBC Canada
December 21, 2023 - On Thursday evening the Deputy Prime Minister announced the approval of RBC's takeover of HSBC Canada, allowing an aggressive and consistent competitor in the personal mortgage space to be acquired by the country's largest financial institution. In exchange for the approval, the government imposed a number of conditions on the deal, including commitments to finance the development of affordable housing with a focus on British Columbia.
"Unfortunately, the government has missed an opportunity to protect competition and affordability in the banking sector," said Keldon Bester, Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. "While commitments related to the financing of affordable housing appear positive, there is little in the way of protecting Canadian homeowners in a higher interest rate environment. In approving the transaction, the government could have secured commitments to protect HSBC mortgage customers from price increases on renewal but appears to have settled on ensuring that HSBC customers are well informed of their limited options going forward. The announcement of a consultation on strengthening competition in the financial sector is welcome but it is unfortunate that the motivating event is a reduction in that very competition."