Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you so much to our witnesses. It's been a very interesting afternoon.
We look at this largest merger agreement in Canadian history. It's going to have profound implications for everyone.
I'd like to start my questioning with OpenMedia. In 2018 the vice-chairman of Rogers Communications, Phil Lind, told the news media that Canada's telecommunications sector is ripe for consolidation amid billion-dollar deals seen by its industry peers. South of the border was what he was kind of looking at and alluding to.
He went on to add that the Canadian government has kept too many players in the industry by offering incentives such as cheap wireless spectrum. He also [Technical difficulty—Editor] because of our population, we weren't large enough to warrant all of these telecommunication carriers.
I am just wondering what your thoughts are on those comments. Perhaps you could share with the committee your perspective of the consolidation trend and what Mr. Lind says about too many players in the industry for such a small population, since our witnesses on Monday hinted at the same idea.