The Vancouver-based telco’s efforts to influence Ottawa on the proposed merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies has been dubbed Project Fox, according to an internal company filing. It involved trying to convince Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) that Quebecor Inc. should not be allowed. to acquire Shaw’s wireless licenses. Earlier this year, Rogers RCI-BT and Shaw SJR-BT entered into an agreement to sell Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Videotron Ltd. of Quebecor’s for $2.85 billion to prevent the Rogers-Shaw merger from eliminating Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s approval is required for Shaw to transfer Freedom Mobile’s wireless licenses to Quebecor. “Telus’ defense highlights the risk [Quebecor] as a treatment partner; asks the Minister not to transfer spectrum licences,” reads a bulletin in the presentation titled “ISED”. Project Fox also included giving talking points to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who repeatedly asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to block the merger during question period, and trying to capitalize on the massive Rogers shutdown in July by writing to the Competition Bureau to highlight the security risks associated with eliminating network redundancies. Telus TT executives also met with “political leaders to kill, shape and slow down the deal,” the filing said. The Competition Bureau is trying to block the merger, arguing it will result in less competition and higher prices for wireless services. Lawyers for Rogers and Shaw argued that the deal would increase competition and that the Bureau has been persuaded otherwise by aggressive pressure from Telus and BCE Inc., which are threatened by the increased competition they will face as a result of the merger . Slides from the Aug. 4 Telus board presentation were initially classified as confidential and withheld from the public. On Monday, Chief Justice Paul Crampton, the Federal Court judge overseeing the hearing, decided to release the document as part of a wider effort to make the hearings more transparent. Chief Justice Crampton opened Monday’s hearing by talking about the need to ensure the public could watch the proceedings. He vowed to be more diligent in ensuring confidential meetings are held only when absolutely necessary, and also expressed an intention to make critical documents such as witness statements and the witness schedule more accessible to the public. His comments came after The Globe reported that many observers find the hearings opaque and difficult to follow, in part because of extensive “closed-door” or confidential sessions. Observers also noted that cross-examinations could be difficult to follow because witness statements were not available in advance. Chief Justice Crampton urged lawyers for both sides to group their questions so that only questions related to competitively sensitive information would be asked during confidential sessions. “On behalf of the court, I also intend to be more careful to ensure that we only stay behind closed doors for as long as is truly necessary. I would ask for everyone’s help and understanding in this regard,” Chief Justice Crampton said. “We must all bear in mind that there is a high level of public interest in this hearing and that people should be able to watch and better understand what we are doing.”
