NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on the commissioner of the Competition Bureau to investigate a deal between Canada’s largest grocery store chain, Loblaw, and a company owned by the country’s telecom giants, Rogers and Bell.
“Loblaws isn’t content just ripping off Canadians when it comes to their groceries. Loblaws is teaming up with Rogers and Bell to rip off Canadians with their cellphone prices,” said Singh.
The New Democrat leader made the comments Wednesday, the same day he sent a letter to the commissioner of Canada’s Competition Bureau, Matthew Boswell, asking him to “conduct a comprehensive investigation” into what Singh describes as “the potential abuse of market dominance by Loblaws, Bell, and Rogers.”
“If this agreement is not opposed, it will result in reduced competition and choice for consumers,” wrote Singh.
News of the partnership emerged after the head of telecom company Quebecor sent a letter on May 9, asking Ottawa to stop the deal, which he says would drive his company out of Loblaw-owned grocery stores.
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Quebecor CEO Pierre Péladeau wrote to Industry Minister Francois Phillipe Champagne, saying Loblaw has decided to “prematurely end” its contract to sell Freedom Mobile products inside its supermarkets.
Quebecor acquired Freedom Mobile last year and offered wireless devices and services at in-store kiosks known as the Mobile Shop, located inside 180 Loblaw-owned stores across Canada.
According to Péladeau, the grocery giant is partnering with Glentel instead, a retailer owned by Rogers and Bell, which operates stores like Wireless Wave and Tbooth Wireless.
The Quebecor CEO says Loblaw described the move as a routine decision, but Péladeau insists it’s “designed to exclude some carriers in favour of Glentel.”
He’s slamming the partnership as “anticompetitive” and wants the industry minister to step in. But Champagne said Péladeau’s letter would be better addressed to the Competition Bureau.
“[The agency has] the powers to conduct the necessary investigation,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Liberals have taken steps to help consumers, including getting Loblaw to agree to sign a grocery code of conduct. But Freeland stopped short of answering whether Ottawa should intervene in the Glentel deal.
“We recognize that we need more competition, more competition in the telecom sector, more competition in the grocery sector. That is the way that we get prices down for everyone,” she said.
–with files from the Canadian Press
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