Competition Bureau ordered to pay millions to Rogers, Shaw
A court has ordered Canada’s competition commissioner to pay telcos Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. millions in costs following weeks-long court proceedings late last year, but a competition law expert said the award is small compared to the actual costs the companies spent due to the hearings.
In a court order dated Aug. 28, the Competition Tribunal, which presided over the hearings between the parties, ordered the Competition Bureau to pay a total of over $12 million in legal fees and compensation, after the anti-trust body failed in its bid to block the merger of the two companies.
“I think the award should have been higher. It’s in the order of five per cent of their actual costs, which I think is miserly, but I get the reasoning,” said Michael Osborne, chair of the Canadian competition practice at law firm Cozen O’Connor LLP.
The commissioner will be ordered to pay counsel fees of $414,720 to Rogers and $416,187 to Shaw, plus applicable taxes. According to the court order, Rogers’ and Shaw’s actual fees incurred were just under $7.97 million and $9.7 million respectively.
The commissioner will, however, have to compensate reasonable disbursements totalling $9.3 million for Rogers and $2.8 million for Shaw.
“With two exceptions, the disbursements claimed by the respondents (Rogers and Shaw) are not unreasonable or unnecessary, and … are appropriately justified,” Judge Paul Crampton said in the document.
No costs will be payable to Videotron, which did not make a request for awarded costs in its motion for leave to intervene.
The Bureau’s attempt to block the $26-billion merger of Rogers and Shaw was soundly dismissed by both the Competition Tribunal that heard the initial challenge and the
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