Keldon Bester

Dunkin's much-heralded re-entry into Canada looks like new competition in fast food on the surface, but under the hood the market is consolidating dramatically. Plus, Ontario's ticket scalping ban is officially a hot mess and Telus is getting into home building - no word yet on activation or system access fees. All this and more in your weekly competition news roundup, link in the first comment below:

How do shopping malls in Canada end up being the same three stores in a trenchcoat? Blame the big grocery chains and their restrictive real-estate deals, says Jacob Filipp, who unearths and tracks those contracts:

@EricDillane Monopoly today, monopoly tomorrow

This piece recognizes that the issue is regulation, not ownership, of airports. Why isn't that the lede? theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editor…

The point was actually quite different: Figma's IPO, which followed successful DOJ (not FTC) pressure against its merger with Adobe, showed that there is an attractive exit option for entrepreneurs besides being bought out by a large firm

Grocery is about location, location, location. Rachel Wasserman and I are in the @globeandmail today talking about how a commercial real estate transaction could harm grocery competition downstream. theglobeandmail.com/business/comme…

Loblaw's increasing dominance in the Canadian grocery market is not just about competitive pricing and product variety; it's about real estate. As one of Canada's largest grocery chains, Loblaw is strategically positioning itself to become a key player in the real estate market, effectively acting as a landlord. This approach could give Loblaw substantial influence over retail spaces, enabling it to dictate terms and potentially limit competition. The implications of this strategy may reshape not only the grocery landscape but also the broader retail environment in Canada. As Loblaw expands its reach, there is a growing concern about the potential impact on consumer choice and local businesses, highlighting the need for careful scrutiny and regulation. The latest from the Globe's business commentary, by Rachel Wasserman, Keldon Bester: theglobeandmail.com/business/comme…

Private equity rolled up the bowling industry and turned what was functionally a family friendly community center into a shitty, expensive casino. They weren't shy about it either. One of their executives said they wanted to raise the price of EVERYTHING.

Is nothing sacred

So Google just admits that targeted surveillance pricing enables corporations to set higher prices for people who are more likely to pay. This idea that surveillance pricing enables “personalized discounts” is a sham.

So @MarkRuffalo and I wrote an oped for the NYT on what looks like a merger fight in Hollywood over Paramount/Warner, but it's really about how fear of oligarchs is overtaking America. And there's a lesson in how solidarity helps us fight back. nytimes.com/2026/05/07/opi…

The lede of this piece that consumers deserve a choice is right but comes up short on what it actually calls for. Transparency isn't choice when a practice becomes standard. theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editor…

@BrianDijkema—Cardus's President, Canada—was invited to give testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on April 23, 2026. Dijkema's remarks highlighted Cardus's research on the negative consequences of legalized online sports gambling and the social harms caused by gambling overall: "The Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse and Addiction says that players [using online gambling accounts] should not spend more than one percent of their pre-tax household income. For the average Ontario household, that means losing no more than $89 per month—but the average player account sustains net losses of $283 per month. In other words, it is more than three times the safe allowable limit. Those who are exceeding that one percent threshold are 4.3 times as likely to experience financial harm, 4.7 times more likely to experience relational harm—things like divorce and domestic abuse—3.9 times as likely to experience emotional or psychological harm, and 4.4 times as likely to experience health problems. That is a huge challenge in Canada." You can watch his full testimony here ➡️ bit.ly/4thwJS3

And this is a good news story because new companies are supposed to grow and outcompete old businesses. That's what happens in a healthy market.

Canada's Competition Bureau is going to bat against a merger looking to create a monopoly in natural gas fractionation and storage decisions.ct-tc.gc.ca/ct-tc/cdo/en/i…

Companies are going to tell us the NEED a bunch of extra information about us in order to selectively offer special discounts. We shouldn't buy it.

Important point beneath the fold in this piece: we need to be focusing on competition in markets further up the grocery supply chain (in this case wholesale). I believe we can walk and chew gum. cbc.ca/news/canada/ma…

Three years after the Rogers-Shaw merger was approved, the fallout is arriving: buyouts for half the workforce, rising consumer complaints, and a company pivoting toward sports and media. @peternowak joins the Law Bytes podcast this week to break it down. michaelgeist.ca/2026/05/the-la…

OSFI plans pilot project to streamline process for institutions to join banking system theglobeandmail.com/business/artic…