OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau is seeking to have the Competition Tribunal add more time to the pre-hearing process and hearing on the merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications due to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron’s request to participate in it.
The Commissioner of Competition filed a motion today seeking the changes, which would see oral examinations for discovery start on Sept. 19, 2022, instead of Aug. 15, 2022, as currently scheduled.
The commissioner, Matthew Boswell, is further requesting the tribunal include an additional week for oral examinations and another additional week for the hearing. He is requesting the tribunal modify other dates for the steps in the pre-hearing process and the hearing itself as necessary.
Arguing there are “compelling” reasons for the proposed changes to the scheduling order, the commissioner points out in the motion that since the most recent scheduling order was issued on June 17, Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor announced an agreement for Videotron to acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile and Videotron requested to intervene in the proceedings.
The motion says because of this, there are now additional steps that need to be taken, including for “the Commissioner to receive documentary discovery from Videotron, review the materials obtained, and conduct oral examination for discovery in order to know the case to meet in respect of the Proposed Divestiture, the efficiencies alleged and other related issues,” and as such, the proposed additional time is necessary.
“The additional steps were not accounted for in the Scheduling Order given that it was only after the Scheduling Order had been discussed in case management that the Proposed Divestiture was disclosed to the public and to the Commissioner,” the motion reads.
The commissioner also said Videotron has raised issues not reflected in the pleadings filed, “including efficiencies accruing to Videotron alleged to arise from the Proposed Divestiture.”
The motion claims the commissioner “would suffer prejudice from this application proceeding” if the current scheduling order is maintained as it does not allow for enough time to address the divestiture of Freedom and Videotron’s intervention “without unreasonably detracting from, or conflicting with, the time scheduled for other steps in this proceeding, which would detrimentally impact the Commissioner’s ability to know, meet and present his case.”
