Thank you so much to the committee for inviting me to speak on this important topic.
My name is Keldon Bester. I am a co-founder of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project and a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. In the past, I worked as a special adviser at the Competition Bureau and as a fellow at the Open Markets Institute in the United States.
I want to be upfront that Globalive Capital, which has an interest in blocking this transaction and which you will be hearing from later today, is a financial supporter of CAMP. We maintain strict editorial independence in our policy positions.
I would like to start by returning to the conclusions of this committee back in March 2022. They are conclusions that I feel remain relevant today. This committee correctly determined that the Rogers-Shaw transaction should not proceed, but that if it did, the government should use any tools it has to hold the parties accountable for their promises to Canadians. This committee also noted that the law that made this merger possible—the Competition Act—should be reviewed immediately.
As for the situation today and where we might go from here, I would like to stress three points.
First, while it is entirely possible that Videotron replicates its competitive performance in Quebec and eastern Ontario, we should set the bar higher than the competitive outcomes currently present in Quebec. The government should direct the CRTC to monitor whether Videotron makes good on its aspirations to be a disruptive competitor.
Second, if we do not use the ongoing review of the Competition Act to reform Canada's weak merger laws, we should expect to find ourselves in the same situation, if not a more extreme situation, in the near future as corporations continue to use mergers and acquisitions as a way to reduce competition and entrench their dominance. Two changes to this effect could be the presumption of illegality of mergers by dominant or jointly dominant corporations and acquisitions thereof, and an explicit preference for outright blocks, which the commissioner pursued, rather than risky behavioural or structural remedies.
Finally, Canada's telecom policy framework cannot remain stagnant as the market undergoes this kind of structural change. The government should act on the proposed policy direction for the CRTC and direct it to review its framework for supporting wireless competition in light of this transaction, including the consideration of a full mobile virtual network operator—or MVNO—model.
Because of the approach taken by the merging parties and accepted by the Competition Tribunal, Canadians have limited options to hold the merging parties accountable for maintaining competition in Canada's wireless market. All that remains now is the minister's approval of the transfer of spectrum assets and the conditions he attaches to that transfer.
Following the release of the tribunal's decision in late December, CAMP wrote that the minister has the opportunity to strengthen the conditions he laid out in his October statement. These could include more aggressive pricing benchmarks based on international peers, a timeline for reaching those benchmarks and the consequences for not doing so, which could include the introduction of an MVNO model.
Entrepreneurs who build successful companies are entitled to the rewards of their hard work, but those rewards should not come at the cost of competitive markets for Canadians. The end point of a system that puts so much emphasis on getting mergers through is the further monopolization of markets that are critical to Canadians, reducing competition when we should be increasing it.
One role of effective competition policy is to close off exit options that reinforce the monopoly power of incumbent corporations. Concentration only leads to more concentration. An effective competition law, a well-resourced enforcer and the vigilance of elected officials like you are needed to prevent that slide into monopoly.
The committee has done important work studying this issue and raising its profile with the broader public. My hope is that this committee takes what may be its final opportunity to urge the action needed to protect the interests of Canadians.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your questions.