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House Hansard - 270

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 29, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 270 - Jan/29/24
Mr. Ryan Williams (Bay of Quinte, CPC)
  • Jan/29/24 7:07:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is quite unusual to be here tonight debating RBC taking over HSBC because it already happened. We were in debate on this important motion in December, and there was an adjourning of the debate made by the NDP, of all parties, which supported the Liberal government. Lo and behold, during the Christmas break, the finance minister approved the merger of RBC, with the number one bank in Canada buying the number seven bank in Canada, and its 800,000 mortgages, in one big gulp. The result is going to be a disaster for Canadians. Why is that? Well, we have a monopoly problem in Canada. Canadians pay the highest fees in the world for cell phones, with the largest cell phone bills on the entire planet. Two airlines control 80% of all the airline business in Canada. Five groceries stores, three Canadian and two American, control not only 87% of groceries but also the wholesale for groceries. Insurance companies are dominating with oligopolies in Canada. It is a travesty that 85% of Canadian beer is owned by two companies, and neither is Canadian. Six banks control 87% of the mortgage market, but now that HSBC has been bought by RBC, it means that five banks will control 90% of all Canadian mortgages. The government, and its lacklustre Competition Act, protects monopolies and oligopolies, and we have a monopoly problem. We have an over-regulated government industry that protects them. Our banks are an oligopoly, which is a word invented in 1930 that literally comes from the word “oligarch” because it means “a few sellers”. It stays true to its name of a few sellers because it only benefits a few, such as its stock owners and the government, but not consumers. Our monopoly problem means that consumers lose with higher fees, less choice, higher mortgage rates, lower investment, lower productivity, fewer start-ups and, more importantly, really bad service, lower wages and low wealth inequality. Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Mr. Ryan Williams: Madam Speaker, the NDP may want to listen to this because monopolies and oligopolies—
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