Canadian Heritage Committee on March 2nd, 2022

[Colette Watson]

I'll start to answer your question, and then I will ask my colleague Ms. Dinsmore to add her comments.

We are certainly aware of the importance that the company will have after the merger with Shaw. I have been with Rogers for 30 years now, and we have always aspired to be a leader in innovation and development.

Today, we're talking about digital development.

Ms. Dinsmore, do you have anything to add?

[Pamela Dinsmore]

I'll have to respond in English, if that's okay.

The entire hallmark of this transaction and the coming together of these two companies is to bridge the digital divide, to bring innovation and competition to the west, to bring affordability and affordable Internet to the west and to vulnerable communities, and to ensure that everybody has access to broadband. There are over two million Canadians today who do not have access to broadband, and we want to lower that number considerably, so we are going to be investing billions of dollars.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I'm sorry to interrupt you.

The subject of today's meeting is the impact on local news, but if you wish to discuss access to the Internet and cellular networks, I will be happy to do so. However, you are well aware of the fact that the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology conducted a study on that topic.

Furthermore, as you know, the Competition Bureau could ask you to impose conditions. A newspaper article in Le Devoir stated that it was expected that Rogers would be asked to give something up, possibly Shaw mobile telephone services in some regions.

What I'm asking is what will happen to local news. What solutions have you envisioned to address the concerns raised about the acquisition of Shaw?

What would the deployment of Rogers look like in Quebec?

Are you able to invest in regional and rural infrastructure in Quebec?

[Colette Watson]

Concerning local news, we have a CityNews broadcasting station in Montreal. We are reaching the anglophone minority in Montreal, and our station is located in the downtown. This station will receive more funding after the Shaw acquisition.

Concerning infrastructure, that is more Ms. Dinsmore's field of expertise.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Honourable François‑Philippe Champagne, spoke about the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications services.

According to economist Vincent Geloso, it is unlikely that another Canadian company could enter the market occupied by Rogers and become a competitor, given that the investments needed to install telecommunications cables are enormous.

What do you think about the issue of competition in your territory?

[Colette Watson]

Currently, neither Rogers nor Shaw has a cable company in Quebec. I don't see the link, but maybe I misunderstood your question. The Rogers cable company that will be merging with Shaw is located in western Canada.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I think that it is important to mention that, if you become such a large player in the Canadian network, you will have a responsibility toward all of Canada, Quebec included.

This also affects competition in the various markets. The share of advertising revenue and the number of subscribers will not increase, even though you hold over 50% of them.

How do we encourage competition in the market? What would you be willing to give up?

We can consider the transaction as a whole, but the issue of local news is fundamental.

Would you be willing to invest more in a fund that would increase media diversity, for example?

We agree that this transaction is disputed, so what are the possible solutions?

[Colette Watson]

I think that there is some confusion here.

Concerning local news, we will improve upon the existing service offerings in Montreal. We do not offer cable television services in the province of Quebec. However, by acquiring Shaw, Rogers will become the largest contributor to the Canada Media Fund, or CMF.

Concerning issues related to Bill C‑11, if you wish to ask the CRTC to ensure that competition in television production be developed with the CMF, that's one thing. However, Shaw and Rogers do not currently operate in Quebec, so I don't see how we will be able to add to that effort.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Ms. Watson.

I think the time is up, Monsieur Lemire. Thank you very much.

I will go to the next questioner, Richard Cannings from the NDP, for six minutes.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses before us today.

I'm from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. It's a fairly rural area. I also represent the West Kootenay. I live in Penticton. I represent Castlegar, Trail and that area. I'm a Shaw customer, I have to say.

While there's no community television in those cities, Shaw has a community cable channel. I think they call it Shaw Spotlight now. It shows up at events and broadcasts the local hockey games and things like that.

Are there any plans for how this merger would affect those services? Would it improve them or eliminate them? Although it's not a real TV station as was being talked about by Mr. Waugh, it is a valuable local service.

[Colette Watson]

It most certainly is. Thank you.

I got my start in community television. We have a very fond outlook on community television. We at Rogers pride ourselves on being the gold standard for that. With respect to the coverage of local sports and what you get on Shaw Spotlight today, that won't change. It will grow.

We haven't had an opportunity to work very closely on how we can grow it, but we are planning to add a documentary team to the community channel team out west. There are no plans at all, in fact.... We would completely commit to continuing what Shaw Spotlight has, and I believe we have.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Monsieur Lemire didn't want to talk about cell service and mobile, but I do. It's well known that Canada has the highest cellphone fees in the world. No other country really comes close. When we see three companies going down to two—or however many there are—one can only see competition decreasing.

How do you see the exorbitant costs of cellphone coverage in Canada proceeding after this merger? I can only see competition going down and prices going up.

[Pamela Dinsmore]

There are a few things to put in the window. With regard to prices in Canada, when you look at a number of different international studies, for example, OECD reports, the CRTC monitoring report and the Wall report, all of them will tell you that on a price value comparison, Canadians are running effectively in the middle of the pack. That's among 37 countries in the case of the OECD study.

Price has to correlate to value. When it comes to price, as many of you are aware, two years ago we were issued a challenge by ISED to bring our prices down by 25%. That was two years ago, and at the end of January, the telecom quarterly report issued by ISED said that we had done that. We have done that. We have brought wireless prices down by 25% in two years, and at the same time, data buckets for customers have increased dramatically, providing, again, more price value for the customer.

I think price always has to be looked at in the context of value and what Canadians are getting for their dollar.

Another study, a PwC study that was issued in September 2021, looked at the cost of building networks and the quality of service among the G20 countries. That study found that while in Canada the providers spend the most money of all the G20 countries to construct and build their networks, at the same time, we have the highest quality of service relating to speed, 4G availability and video experience.

It's a tough country here. It's rocky, it's cold, it's not easy to build in certain places, and it's hard to do it in the winter. It costs a lot of money. At the end of the day, Canadians are getting tremendous value for the dollar.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

There is one minute left.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I'll just finish quickly.

The bells are ringing, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I know. I need unanimous consent to stay for another 20 minutes. It's a 30-minute bell.

I don't know whether I am getting unanimous consent. The clerk will have to tell me.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

I think we have unanimous consent for 15 minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I don't know who's speaking.

Can I ask the clerk to give me that answer, please?

[The Clerk]

I'm being told that the room has given unanimous consent for 15 minutes, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much. We will continue for 15 minutes.

That means you can finish the 40 seconds left in your questioning.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I had one minute when all of this began.

I just wanted to say that what I'm quoting from is a new report from Finland, which is a country kind of like Canada. It's cold; it's northern, and it's sparsely populated for many miles. They looked at countries around the world. They had a package, a 4G cellphone plan with 100 gigabytes of data, and Canada came in at $144. Out of 40 countries, we were number 40. South Africa was at $127.

That's what I was commenting on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you. I think your time is up.

I don't know what's going on. Somebody has a mike unmuted in the room, and therefore I am yelling at you all from a distance. Please mute your mikes. Thank you.

Your time is up, Mr. Cannings.

We're going to move now to the other round. This round takes 20 minutes. That's why I asked for consent for 20 minutes. If you give me only 15 minutes, Mr. Waugh and Mr. Bittle, who are the last two questioners, will have to be cut off.

Is that what we wish as a committee? Can I get some response?

[Michael Coteau, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Yes, we're fine with that.