Rogers, Shaw, accused of fishing expedition over Bell, Telus, subpoenas

Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. have accused Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. of abusing the legal process by asking them to turn over large volumes of documents to the Competition Tribunal, as part of the legal process over the merger of Rogers and Shaw. A motion from Telus last week and another from Bell earlier this week sought to quash subpoenas for documents that both companies said they had already turned over. Those subpoenas were issued at the behest of Rogers and Shaw. In its motion, Telus pointed out that it had already turned over 488,209 documents to the Commissioner of Competition in 2021 as part of its inquiry into the Rogers-Shaw deal, including documents that contained “a significant amount of highly confidential and competitively sensitive information relating to its businesses and strategies”. The company took issue with new subpoenas from early October, 2022, which sought more documents from Telus pertaining to the sale of Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc. The Competition Bureau moved to block Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw via the Competition Tribunal in May, and the deal was put on hold pending the outcome of that case. The House of Commons Heritage Committee has also argued against the deal being approved. It was later announced that Shaw would divest its wireless assets by selling Freedom Mobile to Quebecor, but this concession did not assuage the Competition Bureau’s concerns about the acquisition’s effects on telecommunications competition in Canada. In a separate filing, Bell also objected to similar recent subpoenas from Rogers and Shaw, labeling them “an abuse of process because Rogers and Shaw are engaging in a fishing expedition, which is highly problematic especially on the eve of trial”. Shaw filed a response to Bell and Telus’ requests this week arguing that the subpoenas should be upheld, stating that its legal counsel had offered to meet with Bell and Telus to make the process of producing the required documents smoother. The response also lobbed accusations that “Bell and TELUS have engaged in a closely coordinated, multi-faceted campaign to derail the proposed transaction in an effort to advance their own commercial interests.” The Commissioner of Competition appears to agree with Bell and Telus, issuing a response that supported Telus’ request to quash the Rogers and Shaw subpoenas. (It did not comment on Bell’s motion to quash, likely because Bell’s motion was filed later.) It described the subpoenas as “overbroad and unnecessary” and akin to a “fishing expedition”. The Commissioner also agreed that Rogers and Shaw likely already had access to the documents they were requesting from Telus. The Competition Commissioner’s critique of Rogers and Shaw comes as the companies prepare to enter mediation with the Competition Tribunal. Earlier this week, the Tribunal released a filing indicating that mediation between it and the two companies was scheduled for late-October. – Reporting by Tim Forster, and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Rogers, Shaw, accused of fishing expedition over Bell, Telus, subpoenas

Broadcast | October 20, 2022

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Rogers, Shaw, accused of fishing expedition over Bell, Telus, subpoenas

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