NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has urged the commissioner of the Competition Bureau to investigate a partnership between Canada’s largest grocery chain, Loblaw, and Glentel, which is owned by 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,” Singh said yesterday.
Singh’s comments coincided with the day he sent a letter to Matthew Boswell, the commissioner of Canada’s Competition Bureau. In the letter, he requested a “comprehensive investigation” into what he calls “the potential abuse of market dominance by Loblaws, Bell, and Rogers.”
The federal NDP leader warned that if the agreement is not challenged, it would reduce competition and consumer choice, reports Global News.
This follows a letter from Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, sent to Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne on May 9, urging Ottawa to block the deal. Péladeau claimed that the agreement would force his company out of Loblaw-owned grocery stores and was anticompetitive.
Quebecor acquired Freedom Mobile last year and has been offering wireless devices and services at The Mobile Shop kiosks, found inside 180 Loblaw-owned stores across Canada.
Péladeau said Loblaw is replacing Freedom Mobile with Glentel, which operates stores such as Wireless Wave and Tbooth Wireless. He criticized the move as “designed to exclude some carriers in favour of Glentel.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland acknowledged that the federal government has taken steps to help consumers, including getting Loblaw to agree to sign a grocery code of conduct (some customers have started boycotting Loblaw). However, she did not comment directly on 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,” said Freeland.
Canada’s next federal election is slated to take place on October 20, 2025. Can we smell campaigning already by some of the federal parties?
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People are free to choose whichever carrier they like and are not forced to go to a Glentel or PC Wireless store. I have had mobile phones for decades and never had to deal with either of them. Jagmeet’s allegations are without merit. I’m sure every city where these places have stores, the carriers have them too.
Its not like the 2 other big ones arent doing the same tho.
It would be nice if the politicians would actually do something rather than blathering nonsense.
Politicians are useless! no matter the party
Amen to that!
Let’s face it. All these other tiers like Koodo, Public Mobile, Fido, Chatr were 100% unnecessary. All the big three had to do is offer the same deals instead of flooding the Canadian market with all these unnecessary so called “Providers”. These are nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And all the government did is pat themselves on the back for forcing these companies to provider flankers. Great job government. Well done for creating efficiency and making the problems worse.
The article is about Jagmeet trying to create an uproar about "The Mobile Shop" only offering certain carriers which is ridiculous, people can just go somewhere else.
Jagmeet forgot that he is also ripping off Canadians. It was his fault for siding JT and now Canadians are so badly shape financially. Yet he has the nerve to criticized JT for his performance after supporting him. Refused to call an election because he is making sure that he gets his pension.