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Certain cellphone plans in Western Canada are not as cheap as they once were prior to the Rogers-Shaw merger, Canada’s competition watchdog says.
Jeanne Pratt, the Competition Bureau’s senior deputy commissioner of mergers and monopolistic practices, says the agency hasn’t seen evidence showing Rogers Communications Inc. is offering comparable pricing for bundled wireless plans offered by Shaw Mobile in Alberta and B.C. before the $26-billion takeover closed last April.
Pratt was testifying at the House of Commons’ industry committee on Monday along with representatives from the CRTC, as MPs study the accessibility and affordability of wireless and broadband services in Canada.
MPs on the committee sounded the alarm in January, when Rogers confirmed prices were going up by an average of $5 for wireless customers not on contract and some Bell Canada customers were also told their wireless bills were set to increase.
The committee has invited the chief executives of Rogers, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to testify at an upcoming meeting, however a notice of meeting this Wednesday lists other representatives of the Big 3 carriers who are scheduled to appear as witnesses.
NDP MP Brian Masse tabled a motion Monday to summon the three CEOs to appear if that invitation is not accepted.
— The Canadian Press
Canada’s main stock index moved lower, while Wall Street largely started off in the green but lost steam throughout the day.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 88.84 points at 21,324.31.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 62.30 points at 39,069.23. The S&P 500 index was down 19.27 points at 5,069.53, while the Nasdaq composite was down 20.57 points at 15,976.25.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.99 cents U.S. compared with 74.11 cents U.S. on Friday.
The April crude contract was up US$1.09 at US$77.58 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up five cents at US$1.74 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was down US$10.50 at US$2,038.90 an ounce and the May copper contract was down seven cents at US$3.83 a pound.
— The Canadian Press
The president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities says his members are community builders and not gatekeepers, a term Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has commonly used to attack municipal bureaucrats.
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Scott Pearce made the comment at a news conference the federation held in Ottawa ahead of the spring budget, as the group calls for more federal infrastructure spending.
In response to a question on Poilievre’s proposed housing plan, Pearce appeared to reject the Conservative leader’s accusation that cities are standing in the way of home building.
He says regardless of who is in power federally, municipalities will need more infrastructure spending to ramp up home construction.
Municipalities have been warning that their communities can’t build enough homes to match population growth without more money for things like pipes and roads.
In his housing plan, Poilievre has promised to tie federal dollars to the rate of home building and withhold funding from cities that fail to ramp up construction by 15 per cent each year.
— The Canadian Press
Bitcoin rose to the highest in more than two years, climbing above US$53,000, amid growing optimism that persistent investor demand through exchange-traded funds will drive the price of the largest cryptocurrency back to record levels.
“Bitcoin continues its ascent, supported by strong ETF inflows,” said Spencer Hallarn, global head of over-the-counter trading at crypto investment firm GSR.
The original digital currency increased as much as 3.3 per cent to US$53,600. It last traded at this level in December 2021, and reached an all-time high of almost US$59,000 the prior month.
Investors have poured more than US$5 billion into nine ETFs that began trading last month.
— Bloomberg
Canada’s main stock index was down in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in base metal and telecommunications stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.28 per cent at 21,132.19.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 39,139.30. The S&P 500 index was down 0.01 per cent at 5,088.08, while the Nasdaq composite was up 0.18 per cent at 16,025.36.
The Canadian dollar traded down 0.01 per cent at 73.97 cents US compared with 74.11 cents US on Friday.
The April crude contract was up 1.05 per cent at US$77.29 per barrel.
The April gold contract was down 0.63 per cent at US$2,036.40 an ounce.
— The Canadian Press
Canada is tapping the sustainable-debt market for the first time since the government amended its sovereign green-finance framework in November to include nuclear power.
The bonds are expected to mature in 10 years and may yield about half a basis point less than a Canada bond due December 2033, according to a person familiar with the matter. Final pricing is expected on Tuesday.
The debt will be used for eligible green expenditures as set out in the framework, the person said, asking not to be named discussing a private matter.
Canada first sold green bonds in March 2022, making Monday’s issuance the second. Its inaugural green bond excluded nuclear energy from the activities it financed.
— Bloomberg
United States stocks, bonds and the U.S. dollar posted small moves as traders braced for a barrage of economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve speakers that will help shape the outlook for interest rates.
The economy is back to the forefront this week, with the Fed’s favoured inflation gauge due Thursday expected to show the biggest advance in a year. The core personal consumption expenditures price index is expected to highlight the bumpy path the central bank faces in achieving its two per cent target. That means the data should also validate recent “Fedspeak” underscoring officials are in no rush to ease policy.
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,100. Treasury 10-year yields were little changed at 4.26 per cent. The U.S. dollar fluctuated.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.03 per cent.
— Bloomberg, Financial Post
Real estate services firm Avison Young (Canada) Inc. said it’s close to a restructuring that will clean up its balance sheet after it defaulted on a senior term loan, causing a ratings downgrade.
Toronto-based Avison Canada missed principal and interest payments in the third and fourth quarters of 2023, S&P Global Ratings said in a statement Feb. 24, downgrading the firm to “SD” for selective default. S&P’s action was expected, company spokeswoman Andrea Zviedris said by email.
“We are going to just eliminate significantly more than 50 per cent of all of our obligations,” chief executive Mark Rose said in an interview with Bloomberg on Saturday, adding that Avison’s board will also shed non-independent directors.
The company was preparing to announce the restructure as soon as Monday and updated the ratings agencies on its plans. At that point, S&P said it was then obliged to inform the market immediately, though it didn’t provide a full picture of the company’s position, Rose said.
Representatives for S&P didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The default is “purely technical,” based on a non-repayment which the company had agreed with lenders as part of the imminent revamp, Rose said. All of the company’s investors and creditors have agreed on a plan which involves new money from existing backers, Rose said.
— Derek DeCloet and Thomas Seal, Bloomberg
Mayors of some of Canada’s biggest cities will gather in Ottawa and meet with representatives of the federal government. The mayors will call for urgent infrastructure investments and discuss their priorities ahead of the 2024 federal budget.
U.S. equity futures signalled a pause for stocks around their record highs as investors geared up for a busy week of data, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were little changed after Wall Street’s rally stalled at the end of last week, weighed down by profit taking in megacap tech stocks. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. rose as much as 5.5 per cent in premarket trading, setting Warren Buffett’s conglomerate on course for a market value even closer to US$1 trillion. Treasuries and the dollar were steady.
Miners were a drag on Europe’s Stoxx 600 index as it pulled back 0.3 per cent from Friday’s record close. Rio Tinto PLC and Anglo American PLC led declines in basic resources amid concerns over Chinese demand.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up on Friday.
— Bloomberg
Mayors of some of Canada’s biggest cities will gather in Ottawa and meet with representatives of the federal government. The mayors will call for urgent infrastructure investments and discuss their priorities ahead of the 2024 federal budget.
Companies reporting earnings today include Cargojet Inc., Zoom Video Communications Inc. and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
Need a refresher on Friday’s top headlines? Get caught up here.
Additional reporting by The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Bloomberg
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