In the News: Don’t believe the hype – competition is alive and well in Canada, especially in banking

January 31, 2023 | Hamilton, ON
Contributed by Leonard Waverman

As a former business school dean and as an economist, I’m happy competition policy is in the headlines these days, even for the wrong reasons.

Why do people suddenly care? The Rogers-Shaw drama is certainly a big part of it. The Competition Bureau repeatedly lost in opposing a deal that gives it everything it wants. The Canadian debate always remains focused on the wrong things. We point a finger at the Rogers-Shaw takeover but endure trade barriers between provinces, supply management in sectors such as dairy and government monopolies in alcohol.

Then there’s the public response to the proposed RBC-HSBC deal. I paid attention because I’m an HSBC customer. As someone who has lived and worked in the United States, the U.K. and France, I use foreign-currency accounts, and Canada’s big banks have traditionally offered me little choice.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

Len Waverman

Leonard Waverman

Professor
Finance & Business Economics

Leonard Waverman is a world-renowned expert in international telecommunications and global resources management and specializes in microeconomics and industrial organization, economics of telecommunications, energy and resource economics, international trade, public utility and public enterprise economics. Dr. Waverman earned his BCom and MA from the University of Toronto and his PhD in economics from MIT. Previously, he has served as dean of the DeGroote School of Business, was a professor of economics at the University of Toronto and the London Business School, and dean of the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary.

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