Thank you.
On January 25, 2023, Ms. Pratt was before this committee and outlined that “the commissioner filed an application with the Competition Tribunal under section 92 of the Competition Act, seeking to block the proposed merger” between Rogers and Shaw. Ms. Pratt mentioned that it would negatively impact “millions” of British Columbians and Albertans. Today, we're seeing the negative impacts of that merger. In fact, United Steelworkers Local 1944 in my riding is on strike because its members, who previously worked for Shaw, don't have wage parity with the long-term Rogers employees.
When Rogers executives came before this committee, they made big promises, stating they would invest $6 billion in rural infrastructure. They said there would be more jobs and prices would be lower. It's a fact that prices went up and we haven't seen those investments.
What can we do a better job of in this country to ensure that workers are protected in future mergers moving forward?