Competition policy becoming a ‘kitchen-table issue’ for Canadians amid inflation
As Canadians grow more concerned about rising inflation, competition across different sectors of the economy has become a “kitchen-table issue” at a time when the federal government is reviewing its competition law.
The country’s two largest newspaper chains, Postmedia and the owners of the Toronto Star, recently confirmed talks about a potential merger, signalling more consolidation in an industry that already has a limited number of players.
In a highly anticipated report about food inflation last week, the Competition Bureau called for more competition in the grocery sector, tying the higher prices to the limited options for consumers.
All of that builds on the mounting scrutiny of several sectors, with the telecommunications industry being the prime example.
The head of the competition watchdog recently said that scrutiny is creating a window of opportunity for action, as the federal government undertakes a review of the Competition Act.
“Competition issues are grabbing headlines across the country,” competition commissioner Matthew Boswell said during a speech last month in Ottawa.
And as Canadians struggle with high inflation, Boswell said it’s easy to see how competition policy “has gone from being a podium topic to a kitchen table issue across the country.”
Keldon Bester, co-founder of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, said inflation and a global conversation about corporate power have made people more aware of the role competition plays in their day-to-day lives.
“When Canadians are pushed and their budgets are stressed, they work harder to find alternatives to make ends meet. I think that brings forward a lack of options that we have in a lot of areas of our lives that we can kind of afford to ignore in the
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