Keldon Bester

Justin Ling: From flights to cell phone bills, Canadians get a raw deal. This is why — and how Mark Carney can fix it Protectionism and a lack of competition are making life expensive for Canadians.

"This proposed regime could obsess over market centralization and predatory business practices... take aim at monopolists like Ticketmaster, responsible for jacking up concert prices... aggressively block mergers in already-uncompetitive industries." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

A Tech Anti-Monopoly and Accountability Agenda for Canada | TechPolicy.Press Amid a shifting relationship with the US and new geopolitical realities, Keldon Bester urges Canada to rethink its tech policy to defend national sovereignty.

For @techpolicypress.bsky.social this week I wrote about how Canada's tech accountability efforts should be squarely focused on protecting Canadian sovereignty in an unstable geopolitical environment. www.techpolicy.press/a-tech-antim...

Canada's Competition Bureau recognizes that our airline market is not delivering for Canadians. CAMP was glad to see our recommendations echoed by the Bureau, but know that there is more work to be done to fix flying in Canada.

antimonopoly.ca/statement-ca...

The other sovereignty threat to Canada Monopolies and oligopolies cost Canadians tens of billions every year. They also undermine our national independence.

Monopoly isn't just a tax on everyday Canadians, it's a threat to the future of our independence. We need to tackle both problems if we want to create a strong and free Canada.
www.corporateknights.com/leadership/m...

Discussion Paper | Confronting Canada's Gatekeeper Crisis - Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project In a volatile geopolitical environment, Canada's dependence on a handful of American firms has become an acute risk to the future of our sovereignty.

In an unstable geopolitical environment, Canada's digital infrastructure is in the hands of just a few American companies. In a new CAMP discussion paper, we ask the question what a new path forward should look like.
antimonopoly.ca/discussion-p...

Had a great time talking with Harrison about Canada's monopoly challenge in a changing world and the work we're doing at CAMP

A close-up photograph of a red DoorDash delivery sticker prominently displayed on what appears to be a restaurant window or door. The sticker features the iconic DoorDash logo (a stylized "D" with motion lines) and reads "We deliver with DOORDASH" in white text on a bright red background. The image is taken with shallow depth of field, keeping the DoorDash sticker in sharp focus while the background shows blurred restaurant signage and storefront elements. This photo accompanies a CBC News article about the Competition Bureau suing DoorDash over allegedly misleading price promotions, with the company denying the claims and stating it will defend itself. The image effectively illustrates the ubiquity of DoorDash's presence in the Canadian food delivery market that is now facing regulatory scrutiny.

Who won't delivery apps screw in the pursuit of profit?

Drivers, restaurants & customers all deal with the fallout of exploitative wages, unclear fees, and drip pricing.

Competition fairness rockstar @keldonb.bsky.social explains in this piece.

@jennabench.bsky.social | www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

TODAY at 10:30 AM ET: Join Capitol Forum & Sandeep Vaheesan 👇

"At the Trough": Laurent Carbonneau on Fixing Canada's Flawed Economic Policy An interview on why our public services are deteriorating while businesses thrive and how we get better outcomes for Canada.

I had a great time chatting to @laurentdcar.bsky.social about his new book "At the Trough: The Rise and Rise of Canada's Corporate Welfare Bums" for the Deep Dives newsletter. We covered a lot of interesting ground. Do check it out!

open.substack.com/pub/orbitpol...

We should absolutely limit these exclusivity deals CC @keldonb.bsky.social

Québec, the Canadian province with the most exhaustive and expansive rent *and* vacancy controls, has built more rental units in the absolute and per 1000 than any other province in the past 40 years. Exemptions apply only for 5 years after construction.

Why do we make the king talk about the GST

Who Owns Canadian Nationalism? Have you seen advertisements cashing in on our patriotic surge? I'd like to know. Also, a big, related announcement.

Who owns Canadian nationalism? Companies are seizing on the rally-around-the-flag moment, hoping to sell you pizza, coffee, and whatever they can stick a flag on.

www.davidmoscrop.com/p/who-owns-c...

Recently learned that there was a chocolate price fixing case in Canada in the 2000s. Involved major chocolate producers but afaik only Hershey pled guilty. competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/how-we-fo...

Alphabet’s Pichai Says Google Bringing Products to Market Faster Alphabet Inc.’s Google will bring products to market faster to keep pace with new rivals in the artificial intelligence age.

New: As Google search head Liz Reid announces at #googleio that AI Mode is rolling out to all US users today, Alphabet shares drop...

Follow along with my & @julialove.bsky.social's live I/O coverage here

Alphabet Analyst Says ‘Complete Breakup’ Needed for Stock Gains One of the largest tech companies would be more valuable if it was smaller, according to a Wall Street analyst.

“The only way forward for Alphabet is a complete breakup that would allow investors to own the business they actually want,”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mark Carney passed a tough test in Washington. He now faces an even tougher one at home Canada cannot afford to cede further control of its infrastructure to foreign interests.

"Decades ago, Canada lost its mining leaders when Inco, Falconbridge and Alcan were bought by foreign giants. Now, instead of owning the world’s foremost mining companies and generating wealth in Canada, Canadians are working for foreign entities."
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Still thinking about the review of Chime (2024) that complained about not hearing the chime

Tough day when I need to agree with Bill Gates

Was advertising ever popular though? Possibly just harder to unbundle. If the goal is diverse funding sources to support without shaping news then it's worthwhile to work to rebalance one of those sources.

A monopolized digital ad market does not support journalism.

What if they relabel the department to Science, Political

Google guilty ruling in antitrust case could boost Canada's lawsuit against tech giant The U.S. government's recent wins against Google stem from two of many cases ongoing against the tech giant. Here's what could happen next.

Spoke to the Financial Post this week about the implications of the U.S. win against Google's online advertising monopoly on the parallel case ongoing in Canada
financialpost.com/technology/g...

ISSUE NO. 3 – SPRING 2025 EMPOWERING WORKERS The Monopoly Problem at the Heart of Canada’s Food System April 9, 2025 Jennifer Clapp, Keldon Bester. Image: wheat field and grain elevators in Alberta.

NEW from @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social & @keldonb.bsky.social:

"It boils down to power. When just a few firms control nodes of food supply chains, they have the power to shape what our food system looks like."

Read in Perspectives Journal no. 3: perspectivesjournal.ca/canada-food-monopoly-problem/

Have all the big youtubers stopped boxing one another? Deeply strange phenomenon.

Looking forward to people twisting themselves into pretzels to explain why Zuckerberg was wrong to think companies perform better after being broken up.

Shout out to the @capitolforum.bsky.social coverage

The federal campaign is almost half over, and the lack of serious attention to anything digital or tech, has been astounding. Not least because of its importance as a vector of US power. It’s all very retro, and not in a fun way.

The rule change that could blow open US law Arizona is permitting non-lawyers to own legal practices, potentially unleashing a wave of private equity money

Good, I was wondering when private equity would get into the business of practicing law. www.ft.com/content/8efd...

The Monopoly Problem at the Heart of Canada's Food System | Perspectives Journal While the ongoing cost-of-living crisis facing Canadians has been provoked by recent global events, the consolidation of the Canadian food system has been a long-running and strenuous process.

Sharing this new article coauthored with @keldonb.bsky.social from the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project on the corporate concentration problem in Canada's food system and the kinds of policies we need to tackle it. With the trade war raging, it's urgent!
perspectivesjournal.ca/canada-food-...

Holding my breath until we see whether Zuckerberg's effort to get FTC cases killed pays off