ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Competition Bureau doubles down on objections to Rogers deal for Shaw

The Rogers Communications sign marks the company's headquarters in Toronto, April 25, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim The Rogers Communications sign marks the company's headquarters in Toronto, April 25, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Share
TORONTO -

The Competition Bureau has expanded on its opposition to Rogers Communications Inc.'s proposed $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications in new submissions to the Competition Tribunal ahead of weeks of hearings scheduled to begin this fall.

In legal filings released after markets closed, the agency challenged Rogers' claims about efficiencies and said acquiring its closest competitor is anti-competitive that will harm consumers though higher prices, lower quality services and lost innovation.

It also argues that the proposed sales of Shaw's Freedom Mobile service is "not an effective remedy" because it won't replace growing competition Shaw Mobile would deliver in Alberta and British Columbia and would make Freedom Mobile "a subsequently weaker competitor" than it would have been except for the deal.

The bureau said the efficiencies Rogers claims the deal will create are insufficient to outweigh and offset the anti-competitive effects and are "speculative, unproven and unlikely to be achieved ... or are grossly exaggerated." It says stated efficiencies are based on "unrealistic assumptions and flawed methodologies."

The Competition Bureau also said a subsequent increase in prices will result in the transfer of wealth from low- and moderate-income groups to shareholders including ultrarich members of family ownership groups of the companies.

Five weeks of hearings are scheduled to begin the week of Nov. 7, followed by written and oral arguments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2022.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to topple the Trudeau government next Wednesday and trigger a federal election.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.

Stay Connected