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Brad Shaw, the CEO and executive chair of Shaw Communications Inc., appears before a CRTC hearing in Gatineau, Que., on Nov. 22, 2021. Dave Chan/Tausi Insider A Competition Bureau lawyer grilled Brad Shaw, the CEO and executive chair of Shaw Communications Inc., SJR-B-T about the roughly $2.3-billion his family stands to receive if their company is successfully acquired by Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T Mr. Shaw told the Competition Tribunal on Wednesday that his family made the “extremely difficult” decision to sell the business they had run for 50 years to Rogers for $26-billion because it was the right thing to do for all of the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders, including its customers and its employees. The company was losing market share to Telus in its internet and TV business, had not recouped the billions it had poured into its wireless division, and didn’t have the scale to make the investments needed to remain competitive, Mr. Shaw said. The Shaw family con...

The Rogers Building in downtown Toronto. CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters It is not necessary to own a cable network in order to successfully operate a wireless carrier, Rogers Communications Inc.’s RCI-B-T chief technology officer told a Competition Tribunal hearing into Rogers’ proposed $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc SJR-B-T. The comments by Ron McKenzie, the chief technology and information officer at the Toronto-based telecom giant, speak to a core issue in the merger case: whether Quebecor Inc. QBR-B-T will be able to successfully run Shaw’s Freedom Mobile without owning cable infrastructure in Western Canada. The Competition Bureau is attempting to block the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies, arguing that the deal will reduce competition in the wireless industry, leading to higher cellphone bills and poorer service. The Competition Tribunal adjudicates on matters of civil competition and is hearing arguments on the proposed deal. Explainer: How the Rogers-Sha...

An SSE vehicle is parked outside the Pitlochry Dam hydro electric power station, in Pitlochry, Scotland, on Nov. 8, 2017. RUSSELL CHEYNE/Reuters British power generator and network operator SSE said on Friday it will sell a 25 per cent stake in its power transmission network business to Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board for £1.47-billion ($1.78-billion), as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The stake sale of SSEN Transmission is part of a plan SSE outlined last November when it pledged to invest £12.5-billion in clean energy projects. So far, SSE has sold a 33.3 per cent stake in gas distribution operator Scotia Gas Networks for nearly £1.29-billion as part of a bid to focus on renewable power and networks. “With significant growth forecast in transmission, bringing in Ontario Teachers’ as a minority stake partner will help fund our ambitious investment plans as we continue to deliver a network for net zero emissions across the north of Scotland,” SSEN ...

FYI 12-21-97 (1).jpg robmag-bestmanaged-fyidoctors-1128 Handout FYidoctors Handout When it comes to running a company, rapid growth is, of course, generally considered to be a good thing. But when growth far surpasses expectations, maintaining company culture is challenging for even the most seasoned leaders. “In the past two years alone, growth has been more than triple what we budgeted for,” says Dr. Alan Ulsifer, founder and CEO of FYidoctors, a network of eye care and medical aesthetics clinics. The company, born in 2005 when a group of Albertan optometrists decided to merge their practices, has grown steadily via the acquisition of independent clinics. Last week, it merged with its biggest competitor, FunctionLab, to form the largest network of medical aesthetics clinics in the country. “We’re excited about all this growth, but onboarding so many new people can be stressful. Our biggest challenge has been making sure companies that join us have a good experience,” says U...

Facebook owner Meta META-Q reached out to EU antitrust regulators some time back in an attempt to settle investigations into its use of customer data and the tying of its classified advertisements service to its social network, people with direct knowledge said. There were very preliminary discussions which so far have not made any progress, the people said. The European Commission and Meta declined to comment. “I am not surprised that there is no traction. You can better assess the exposure risk if you see something in writing like a statement of objections,” said Tobias Caspary, a partner at London-based Fried Frank. The EU competition enforcer launched an investigation into Facebook in June last year, focusing on whether the social network unfairly use advertisers’ data to compete with them in the online classified ads sector. A second investigation centres on whether Facebook ties its classified ads service Marketplace to its social network to give it an advantage in reaching cus...

A Embraer E195-E2 jet under construction. NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images The upstart Toronto airline with a raccoon as its mascot is poised to become a bigger pest to the larger carriers. Porter Airlines is set to receive the first of its Embraer E-195 jets this month, a 132-seat aircraft that will drive the expansion of the carrier’s network and help it compete with its mainline rivals. Michael Deluce, the chief executive officer of privately owned Porter, said the airline is targeting economy-class passengers, who comprise 90 per cent of the market, and will extend its reach to all of North America, as well as Caribbean vacation spots. Unlike its fleet of turboprops at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the new planes will be based at Toronto Pearson International Airport, putting Porter in direct competition with Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet Airlines and the low-cost carriers in Eastern Canada. Porter Airlines ordered to pay $130-million to operator of Toronto’s island airpor...

Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Office of Parkland, at one of the company’s On the Run stores in Mississauga on Nov. 29, 2022. Fred Lum/Tausi Insider Last fall Bob Espey, the chief executive officer of Parkland Corp. PKI-T, stood near a maze of pipes at the company’s crude oil refinery in Burnaby, B.C., and explained how important the facility is to Parkland’s future. “The energy we produce and sell powers people’s lives every day,” he said. Later, while sampling a new chipotle grilled chicken BLT at the Mississauga test kitchen of M&M Food Market, which Calgary-based Parkland also owns, he detailed why that division was also critical to the company’s prospects. “M&M plays a central role in our diversification strategy,” he said. If hydrocarbons and hot sandwiches seem like a disjointed pairing, it speaks to the difficult position Parkland finds itself in today. For years, Parkland enjoyed a winning strategy of buying up fuel station and convenience store chains in C...

Donald Trump speaks to media mogul Rupert Murdoch as they walk out of Trump International Golf Links, in Aberdeen, Scotland, on June 25, 2016. Carlo Allegri/Reuters Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch will be questioned under oath on Thursday and Friday in a defamation lawsuit over his network’s coverage of unfounded vote-rigging claims during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Election technology company Dominion Voting Systems says Fox News Network amplified false claims that its machines were used to rig the election against Republican Donald Trump and in favour of his Democratic rival Joe Biden, who won the election. Dominion is seeking $1.6-billion in damages. Murdoch, 91, is the most high-profile figure to face questioning in the case. Fox has argued that it had a right to report on election-fraud allegations made by Trump and his lawyers, and that Dominion’s lawsuit would stifle press freedom. Fox referred Reuters to an earlier statement saying: “There is nothing more newsworth...

Nunavut’s energy corporation says cybersecurity experts are investigating after it was targeted in a cyberattack over the weekend. The Qulliq Energy Corporation says its network was breached, but it’s too early to determine whether the attackers accessed customer information. It says anyone affected will be notified as the investigation continues. Power plants in the territory continue to operate as usual, but computer systems and the corporation’s customer care and administrative officers are currently unavailable. The Nunavut government’s IT system was the target of a cyberattack in 2019. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation was hit by a ransomware attack in 2020. https://www.tausiinsider.com/nunavut-energy-corporation-targeted-in-cybersecurity-attack/?feed_id=323374&_unique_id=63e11c8b04046