Runaway food prices. A massive day-long telecom outage that knocked out internet and phone service across the country. Flight delays, cancellations and stranded air travellers.
What do all of these things have in common, in addition to being the causes of headaches for Canadians in the last 12 months? Some would say the answer is competition — or, to be more precise, a lack thereof.
There are many reasons why Canada's biggest industries are dominated by just a few companies. Some say a large geography and small population make it more difficult for Canada to support more than a few major players in sectors such as aviation. In response to the government's ongoing review of competition policy in Canada, the federal Competition Bureau said in a recent submission that it believes the majority of Canadians see the current competition framework as "outdated, weak, complex, slow and out of touch."
"They're experiencing it every day, in terms of the prices they pay for many different things, the choices, the quality of service, and the lack of innovation in the Canadian economy." It also wants stronger rules against things like collusion and abuse of dominance, when a major player or group acts to stop or substantially reduce competition, things Boswell said are more of a risk in highly concentrated markets such as Canada.
"When you have a bad harvest somewhere that pushes up the price of cauliflower ... well, it's not going to be competition law that fixes that," Osborne said. "That's just not what it's for."
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
BEYOND LOCAL: Why major players dominate Canada's business landscapeRunaway food prices. A massive day-long telecom outage that knocked out internet and phone service across the country. Flight delays, cancellations and stranded air travellers.
Read more »
BEYOND LOCAL: Cyle Larin, Vanessa Gilles named Canada Soccer's players of the month for MarchLarin scored three goals in two games for Canada while Gilles helped Olympique Lyonnais advance to the Coupe de France Féminine Finals
Read more »
BEYOND LOCAL: Cyle Larin, Vanessa Gilles named Canada Soccer's players of the month for MarchLarin scored three goals in two games for Canada while Gilles helped Olympique Lyonnais advance to the Coupe de France Féminine Finals
Read more »
BEYOND LOCAL: Lacking financial literacy, young people are taking it into their own handsWhere should people turn when they want reliable resources to learn about money and how to better manage it?
Read more »
BEYOND LOCAL: Lacking financial literacy, young people are taking it into their own handsWhere should people turn when they want reliable resources to learn about money and how to better manage it?
Read more »
Watershed report card gives high grades for local water qualityThe 2023 report card offers a summary of the state of local forests, wetlands and water resources
Read more »