Weekly Roundup: Europe's War On Big Tech and Pepsi's War On Weight Loss
Plus, BlackBerry co-founder blasts the Canadian government for being weak on privacy and people are waiting forever to resolve their airline complaints
It’s your weekly roundup of what happened in competition, corporate concentration and affordability news this week. There was lots, so let’s get to it!
🛒 GROCERIES & RETAIL
In case you missed it, we had the scoop here at Do Not Pass Go on CANADIAN TIRE getting hauled into Quebec court with 74 counts of false advertising. Prosecutors said the retailer advertised false prices in its flyers and online for a handful of products. On Friday, the company pleaded guilty and will pay $1.2 million in fines, plus legal costs:
Just in time for the Super Bowl, PEPSICO is cutting the prices of Doritos and other snacks, in the United States at least. The company is “listening closely to customers” as sales drop on stiff prices and, according to the BBC, because so many people are using weight-loss drugs in the form of Wegovy and Ozempic, which means they’re eating less. The company did not respond to a request for comment on whether these price cuts are coming to Canada yet, where use of those drugs is not yet as pronounced - though cheaper generics are on the way.
📱 BIG TECH
In case you missed it, there’s trouble in GANDER SOCIAL town. The fledgling all-Canadian social network has parted ways with two of its big-name advisors, in the form of Dragons’ Den star Arlene Dickinson and tech personality Amber Mac. As both The Globe and Mail and Betakit report, the schism is rooted in disagreement over the pair’s investments in the company and their expected roles as advisors. Some investors who chipped in to the company’s crowdfunding campaign are feeling duped, as the celebrities’ involvement and apparent endorsement of Gander is what led them to take part in the first place.
If it seems like Europe has declared war on American Big Tech… well yeah, that’s because it has. And what a week of war it’s been! First up is France ditching MICROSOFT Teams and ZOOM for its civil servants in favour of a homegrown video conference system, followed by a raid of the Paris offices of X/TWITTER. That comes with a summons for billionaire owner Elon Musk, in relation to the social media company spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. Then Spain joined the party by announcing that it too will ban social media for kids, joining Australia and France. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is kicking it up a notch by promising criminal charges for Big Tech executives who manipulate algorithms to amplify illegal content.
🥊 COMPETITION
The COMPETITION BUREAU has released a white paper that looks at the potential effects of removing regulatory barriers in non-manufacturing sectors – and they’re big! Like, an additional 6.5 to 10 per cent in additional long-term gross domestic product big. The study found that Canada continues to face significant productivity challenges and that its regulatory environment is among the least competition-friendly compared to similar countries. The authors, a group of international economists, also find that regulations in four key sectors – energy, transportation, retail distribution and professional services – are more restrictive than necessary.
Regular readers and listeners know we’ve been following the developing “can regular Canadians sue big companies for abuse of dominance” story, so it’s good to see others doing the same. University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist has his colleague Jennifer Quaid, who assessed an independent case brought by an indie Toronto game developer against GOOGLE here on Do Not Pass Go, on his podcast. That case has since been rejected by the Competition Tribunal, so Geist and Quaid discuss how it’s going to affect the other two filings that are on the books going forward – one taking on APPLE’s app store and the other seeking a breakup of LIVE NATION.
Jim Balsillie, co-founder of BLACKBERRY and frequent sovereignty and innovation commentator, has a banger of an op-ed in The Globe and Mail in which he excoriates the federal government for its inattention to privacy laws. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is directly contributing to the cost-of-living problem by continuing to allow corporate and political interests to snoop on Canadians, which is leading to exploitative pricing and wage suppression, he says.
Further in that vein, the CANADIAN ANTI-MONOPOLY PROJECT has a new report on how online scams are harming Canadians, to the tune of $650 million in recent years. The watchdog is calling for stronger data protection laws, developing anti-scam regulations to apply to advertising platforms, and more powers for the Privacy Commissioner and the Competition Bureau to ensure compliance.
Hopefully you didn’t miss former Conservative party leader and Prime Minister candidate ERIN O’TOOLE on the Do Not Pass Go podcast this week, talking about competition and Canada’s long love affair with monopolies. Come for the policy discussion, stay for his singing Gordon Lightfoot. Here’s a clip:
🎾 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
NETFLIX appeared before a senate hearing this week to answer questions regarding its proposed $83 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio assets, but things went off the rails worse than the final season of Stranger Things. Republican members of the panel shifted away from asking about possible antitrust issues and instead grilled co-CEO Ted Sarandos over why the streaming service supposedly promotes “woke” content and “transgender ideology.”
Fans of the BLUE JAYS have two reasons to rejoice, with the news that all-time franchise great Joe Carter is finally getting his own statue outside
Rogers CentreSkydome in Toronto. Almost as good is the news that the existing statue of Ted Rogers, who founded the telecom giant that owns the team, is being relocated from the stadium to company headquarters.
✈️ AIRLINES
Had a problem with a flight and want to file a complaint against the airline? Be prepared to wait. Cases are taking nearly three years to resolve, according to the CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION AGENCY, with a backlog of nearly 100,000 unhappy customers currently in line seeking justice. At that rate, it might be faster to just walk to Europe.
Speaking of long-running problems with airlines, the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a class-action lawsuit over AIR CANADA junk fees. The case stems from a ticket purchased by a passenger way back in 2010 which, for the mathematically challenged, is a whopping 16 years ago. At that rate, it might be faster to just walk to the moon.
That 10% GDP boost cited by the Competition Bureau is a massive number. I read the House Industry Committee transcripts every week. MPs usually shout about taxes killing our economy. But this report points the finger at boring regulations in transport and energy instead. It is rare for a government agency to admit that its own rules are the problem.