No. Pause. That's not my challenge to the efficiencies defence.
My challenge is with the prospect of economies of scale and the prospect that you'll see efficiencies that will not only increase profits but also potentially reduce prices, because you're producing those efficiencies. What we've seen in practice.... This is what I have in front of me. John Kwoka, a competition policy expert, analyzed over 3,000 mergers and found that in mergers that led to six or fewer significant competitors, prices rose in nearly 95% of cases.
It's strikes me that, in a country of oligopolies like Canada, we have to be especially concerned about further consolidation and that the efficiencies ultimately don't, in practice, translate to lower costs for consumers.