Tausi Insider

The public hearing that will determine the fate of Rogers Communications Inc.’s RCI-B-T proposed $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-B-T has turned out to be not so public after all – despite the Competition Tribunal committing to an “open court process.” Because of its potential implications for users of critical wireless and internet services, the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies has attracted far more public attention than most hearings held by the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates on matters of civil competition. Many observers describe the hearings thus far as opaque and are calling for more transparency in the tribunal process. Repeatedly, during the first week of hearings, lawyers for both the cable companies and the Competition Bureau, which is attempting to block the merger, asked the judge to go into confidential sessions that have dragged on for hours. In addition, critical documents such as witness statements and t...

Shopify Inc.'s headquarters in Ottawa on May 3, 2022. During the pandemic, the company partnered with the government on an initiative to help small businesses grow, and on the COVID Alert app. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Vass Bednar is the founder of Regs to Riches , a senior fellow at CIGI, and the executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society program. I recently reported Shopify to … itself. The Twitter account “ Deceptive Design ,” which illuminates deceptive design patterns, had noted two fishy apps available on the app store of Shopify Inc. , the Ottawa-based e-commerce platform. One advertises the ability for merchants using Shopify to create fake low-stock indicators. Another adds faux time pressure for customers through a large animated countdown timer. These apps are made by third-party app developers and are not necessarily Shopify’s fault. But Shopify claims certain standards in its official requirements for apps . By a...

With rising inflation and interest rates, many home cleaning business owners are torn between raising prices enough to cover their costs and holding onto clients facing the same pressures. Hispanolistic/iStockPhoto / Getty Images The products Alicia Ogoc uses to clean homes have more than doubled in price in the past two years. Gas prices have also increased so Ms. Ogoc is spending more money driving around Calgary, and sometimes beyond its boundaries, to get to the houses she cleans. All the driving means she goes through tires faster than the average driver, sometimes a set every year. She said her most recent set cost $1,000, a $200 jump from the last time, and that she chose not to get winter tires because they were too expensive. “Everything is going up,” said Ms. Ogoc, 60, who works alongside her sister cleaning about 20 homes every two weeks or so, and another 20 less frequently. “My car is old, from 2004. I cannot afford a new car.” Despite the rising costs, Ms. Ogoc hasn’t r...

Elon Musk enters Twitter headquarters in San Francisco carrying a sink on Oct. 26. The Associated Press Goran Calic is an associate professor of strategic management at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. It would be easy to characterize Elon Musk’s approach since taking over Twitter Inc. last month as rash, messy, destructive and unplanned. While such descriptions would be accurate, they would certainly not be complete. What we have been witnessing, in public and in real time, is a live demonstration of the way Mr. Musk runs a business. He has generally managed his other ventures very successfully – especially in terms of growth, if not always in terms of profit. Tesla Inc. continues to build factories and deliver cars and SpaceX rockets continue to supply the International Space Station with materials and astronauts. It’s important to keep two things in mind while following the Twitter drama: The company was already in serious trouble and Mr. Musk’s style, though vol...

Canada’s financial services industry is strong, stable and competitive, and Canadians have plenty of choice when it comes to where to park their money. Duane Cole/Mark Blinch/Tausi Insider Leonard Waverman was the dean of the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. He is a former director of BNP Paribas Canada and the C.D. Howe Institute. As a former business school dean and as an economist, I’m happy competition policy is in the headlines these days, even for the wrong reasons. Why do people suddenly care? The Rogers-Shaw drama is certainly a big part of it. The Competition Bureau repeatedly lost in opposing a deal that gives it everything it wants. The Canadian debate always remains focused on the wrong things. We point a finger at the Rogers-Shaw takeover but endure trade barriers between provinces, supply management in sectors such as dairy and government monopolies in alcohol. Then there’s the public re...