62k sign petition against Rogers-Shaw merger

A coalition of four separate advocacy groups Tuesday delivered a 62,000 signature-strong petition to the Competition Bureau, asking the regulator to block Rogers Communications Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc. According to a release from the groups OpenMedia, ACORN Canada, Leadnow, and North99, the petitions "argue that this buyout will make connectivity in Canada even more expensive by cutting down the already-limited number of options available to people in the telecom market." “The sheer number of signatures delivered today makes one thing clear: Canadians are overwhelmingly against the Rogers-Shaw sale. If the government allows these telecom giants to cut down wireless competition and choice even further, it’ll be a clear indication that their promise to lower Canada’s cell phone bills was nothing but smoke and mirrors," OpenMedia campaigns director Matthew Hatfield said in the release. "The only acceptable path forward is for Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Champagne to step in and block this terrible deal.” The Competition Bureau is one of three regulatory agencies that must approve the merger, alongside the Department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development and the CRTC. Last month, bureau commissioner Matthew Boswell told the House of Commons industry committee that allowing a merger to proceed on the basis of the so-called "efficiencies defence" is a "very, very serious exercise of enforcement discretion to approve an otherwise anticompetitive merger.” The efficiencies defence, otherwise known as section 96 of the Competition Act, allows a merger to proceed “where efficiency gains are likely to be brought about by the merger and are greater than — and offset — the anticompetitive effects,” Boswell told MPs. "We’ve seen what happens when telecom giants merge — higher prices for working-class Canadians," North99 director Geoff Sharpe said in the Tuesday release. "If the government is committed to making life more affordable for Canadians, they will intervene and block this deal.” Correction: An earlier version of the headline incorrectly implied 62,000 people had signed an OpenMedia petition. The 62,000 signatures were gathered by the four separate organizations.

62k sign petition against Rogers-Shaw merger

Brief | May 18, 2021

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62k sign petition against Rogers-Shaw merger

Brief | May 18, 2021

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