Media

"The proposed Rogers-Shaw merger was back in the news last week as Canadian Industry minister Francois Philippe Champagne held a mid-week press conference to announce that the original deal was dead, but that a reworked deal that brings in Videotron might be a possibility if certain government expectations on restrictions on transferring spectrum licences and consumer pricing outside of Quebec were met."

"Rogers Communications Inc. is preparing for the fight it had been trying to avoid -- a hearing at Canada’s Competition Tribunal over its proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc."

“The institutions that make up the foundation of Canada’s competition laws concentrate the future of the field in too few hands and appear to be straining to meet their mandates. If Canada is to truly make competition a pillar of its economic policy, these institutions will need to change to meet the needs of a more active and vibrant competition law ecosystem.”

“The coming consultation is an occasion Canada can use to lay a strong foundation for bold and more far-reaching reform of its competition law. But to best use that moment, it must give all citizens an opportunity to contribute their perspectives on an issue that affects them daily.”

“So instead of pursuing a remedy that gives up on existing competition in the hope that another player might one day fill the void left in the wake of the merger, the best outcome for Canadians in this saga is one word from the commissioner to the Rogers and Shaw families: No.”

“We need competition laws that enable a greater number of diverse competitors to provide services in our markets, and provide redundancies in the infrastructure underlying our daily life. When key networks are monopolized, our economy becomes more fragile as private interests retire redundant infrastructure with impunity.”