“We saw the impact on all consumers generally. We were concerned about all of those consumers,” said Jeanne Pratt, senior deputy commissioner of the Bureau’s Mergers and Monopolistic Practices Branch, while testifying before the House of Commons industry committee on Jan. 25.
“We did look at the impact that was going to be on the bottom decile of taxpayers as a result of this merger,” she said, adding, “It indicated that there would be a disproportionate impact on lower-income Canadians.”
Pratt said the bureau conducted an “exhaustive investigation” on the planned buyout and that it will “likely harm millions of Canadians in Alberta and British Columbia through higher prices, lower quality services, and lost innovation.”
Buyout
Cabinet still must approve Rogers’ planned buyout of rival telecom company Shaw before the deal can go through.Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters on Jan. 25 that he will be examining the Court of Appeal’s rejection of the bureau’s case challenge to “understand their reasoning.”
“I'll make a decision in due course,” Champagne said, adding, “I’ve always been working on behalf of Canadians to make sure that we have more competition, more affordability and innovation in the sector and this is what’s going to be guiding my decision.”
“Are you going to cut thousands of jobs in this merger?” he asked Rogers’ President and CEO Tony Staffieri.
Staffieri said the planned buyout will result in “more jobs” and that Rogers will look to “redeploy resources in areas that are growing.”