Canada’s competition court is being asked to crack open Apple’s App Store. A consumer advocacy group says Apple’s tight control over apps and payments hurts competition, innovation and consumers, setting up a major test of new competition laws www.donotpassgo.ca/p/a-canadian...

Quebec Superior Court approves class action against Ticketmaster over service fees www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...

Cellphone plans could be getting more expensive after years of decline, data suggest www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/pe...

🚨 New social media on the horizon - and it’s Canadian! Gander Social aims to be kinder, calmer, community-first. 35,000+ users are already waiting. CEO Ben Waldman joins Do Not Pass Go to discuss why the world might actually need Gander. 🎧 Listen here: www.donotpassgo.ca/p/this-might...

The Revue Cinema in Toronto isn't just surviving despite competing against one of Canada's most dominant monopolies, it's thriving. Reinvention, creative risks, listening to its audience: These are lessons other small businesses can take to heart www.donotpassgo.ca/p/the-revue-...

Doug Ford got real mad about fans getting gouged by sky-high resale prices on World Series tickets, but unlike other countries and even Quebec, he's done nothing about it. My guest post for The Line: www.readtheline.ca/p/peter-nowa...

Deregulation is synonymous with big business, right? Maybe, but it's smothering small businesses in Canada (and kids trying to sell lemonade). It's time for some review and revision to get entrepreneurialism moving again. www.donotpassgo.ca/p/red-tape-o...

Over 4,700 Canadians Call for a Strong Competition Commissioner to Fight Monopolies openmedia.org/article/item...

In a Toronto Star op/ed today, I'm writing about the incredibly important case of a Toronto indie game developer taking on Google's search monopoly. It's the first to test new laws that let citizens sue for the public interest www.thestar.com/business/opi...

Rogers v. Rogers is a hilarious and mesmerizing one-man play that's about the lack competition and corporate power run amok in Canada. It's therapy for long-suffering consumers www.donotpassgo.ca/p/winning-ug...

Canada and other countries are using Trump as an excuse to avoid dealing with their own oligopolies, says American Economic Liberties Project research director @matthewstoller.bsky.social www.donotpassgo.ca/p/blame-amer...

Can we sue monopolies for being monopolies? Canada's Competition Tribunal will soon decide whether to allow an indie game developer to take on Google over its search monopoly. University of Ottawa prof Jennifer Quaid explains why all eyes are on this case www.donotpassgo.ca/p/can-ordina...

In adapting the book "Rogers v. Rogers" into a one-man show that opens this week, playwright Michael Healey says he wants people to understand why their cellphone (and grocery, and airline, and bank...) fees are so high. Listen to the full interview here: www.donotpassgo.ca/p/rogers-v-r...

If everything is a rip-off, should we just buy nothing? With #blackfriday looming, Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to explain how #BuyNothingDay fits into the larger fight against climate change www.donotpassgo.ca/p/this-decad...

Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell is stepping down early. Consumer advocates love the job he's done and say that who the government chooses as his successor will reveal whether they're actually serious about competition and affordability www.donotpassgo.ca/p/competitio...

Big disruption, not incremental moves is needed to bring prices down and tame Canada's #oligopolies, says @beynate.bsky.social on the new episode of Do Not Pass Go. We talk telecom, airlines, groceries and even World Series tickets www.donotpassgo.ca/p/rise-of-th...

Cities, renewable energy and nature lobbyists swarmed Parliament Hill in October ahead of the federal budget. Honda, Toyota, Restaurant Brands, Telus and Pfizer were also active. See who met with who in the monthly Lobby Report www.donotpassgo.ca/p/the-lobby-...

As private equity buys into the $40 billion youth sports industry, everyday families are being priced out. "We have this affordability crisis, and youth sports are one of those things that’s becoming an activity only for the wealthy,” @capitolkvd.bsky.social tells @lukewgoldstein.bsky.social

Don't look now, but wireless prices are officially on the rise again. Interestingly, it's the first time Statscan has found this to be the case since *checks notes* the government allowed Rogers to buy Shaw www.donotpassgo.ca/p/wireless-p...

Is the Canadian government's long-overdue action to bring competition to banking for real? Industry veteran and author of "Fleeced" Andrew Spence joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast this week to talk about it (spoiler: he thinks so) www.donotpassgo.ca/p/it-really-...

Back in June, the Competition Bureau issued its first ever market study, on airlines, with advice on how to fix things for consumers. So far, the federal government has ignored it - but they are keeping tabs Air Canada CEO's French proficiency www.donotpassgo.ca/p/failure-to...

Oligopolies get all the attention when it comes to competition problems, but there's also a silent killer: private equity. @rwasserman.bsky.social joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast this week to discuss how to rein them in and avoid the death of entrepreneurialism www.donotpassgo.ca/p/death-by-a...

Fido is increasing some customers’ monthly bills by $5. mobilesyrup.com/2025/11/06/f...

"They can't keep doing this forever," Graham Wright of Juno-nominated band Tokyo Police Club on Live Nation's domination of the music biz. It's dire for working musicians and music fans right now, he says on the new episode of Do Not Pass Go donotpassgo.substack.com/p/they-cant-...

If you've been watching the Blue Jays playoffs on TV, you've probably seen the Will Arnett RBC ad - and its dig at fintechs - a million times. Well, the fintechs aren't too pleased with it donotpassgo.substack.com/p/will-arnet...

A vacationing couple has scored big with a court ordering Air Transat pay them $7,000 for denying boarding for no reason. Advocates say the judgment is an endorsement of recording interactions with airline staff (which is perfectly legal): donotpassgo.substack.com/p/court-hits...

Toronto's Velvet Undergound is now closed, but is that a bad thing? As some industry insiders point out, its owner-operator Live Nation likely never really wanted the place and it may live on as another music venue under another owner. donotpassgo.substack.com/p/could-the-...

"Failure to deal with unbalanced economic power contributes to the rise of authoritarianism. and we see that very clearly in our times. It's what I call the true path to serfdom:" Biden competition advisor Tim Wu joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast this week donotpassgo.substack.com/p/eat-your-g...

The astronomical resale prices for Blue Jays World Series tickets are rightfully getting a lot of attention from the media and lawmakers, but the opacity regarding their base face values is a big problem too: donotpassgo.substack.com/p/whats-the-...

Call out for a story I'm working on: if you managed to get Blue Jays World Series tickets in levels 500 or 100, please give me a shout.

Monopoly the board game was never supposed to teach kids that greed is good. Its forgotten origin lies in a turn-of-the-century progressive movement that wanted to tax land owners rather than workers. donotpassgo.substack.com/p/the-forgot...

The CRTC has launched a public consultation on how to improve the agency that handles telecom service complaints crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/...

Who's lobbying the feds and why? The latest reports show the Canola Council of Canada leading the way, likely thanks to China tariffs. Irving Shipbuilding and the Canadian Urban Transit Association are close behind: donotpassgo.substack.com/p/the-lobby-...

Bell to resell fibre internet in Western Canada as it announces three-year outlook www.thestar.com/business/bel...

What's the state of consumer protection in Canada? Very bad, say some of the main advocacy groups. They're underfunded, overmatched and the feds don't take it seriously. But things are better in Quebec. Could protection be exported to the rest of Canada? donotpassgo.substack.com/p/a-basket-c...

Would you go to Canada Post for your mortgage? Why advocates think postal banking could be a lifeline for the Crown corp. www.thestar.com/business/wou...

"Let’s not demonize our oligarchs, let’s empower them:" Former Conservative party leader Erin O'Toole scores a victory of sorts at a debate over whether Canada's oligopolies are holding the country back donotpassgo.substack.com/p/lets-not-d...

Canada’s banking sector needs more competition, not more regulation, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor says www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

An indie game developer is taking Google to Canadian court over its default search engine deal with Apple. It's the first test of a new law that lets individuals sue for abuse of dominance at the Competition Tribunal in the name of the public interest: donotpassgo.substack.com/p/its-david-...

Sovereignty and affordability aren't separate issues, they're one and the same. So says @vassb.bsky.social via Do Not Pass Go, where she explains the purpose of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, the new Jim Balsillie-funded think tank she's heading up donotpassgo.substack.com/p/the-canadi...

Delighted that Cory is having a moment with "Enshittification," because it's an accurate word for what's happening in tech and he's the right person to describe it. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/b...

Lina Khan Revamped Antitrust. Now She’s Pushing the Democratic Party www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/t...

As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers' www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

Tariffs? What tariffs? How Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys are keeping profits high despite Trump’s threats www.thestar.com/business/tar...

Hollywood’s new 'star' Tilly Norwood isn’t real (or at least, not human). But the jobs she might take are. This week we wrote about what happens when avatars cross from novelty to normalized labour. You can read about it in The National Interest: app.cyberimpact.com/newsletter-v...

Social Capital Partners: Wealth inequality in Canada is far worse than StatsCan reports socialcapitalpartners.ca/wealth-inequ...

We should all be fed up with Ticketmaster and its near-monopolistic dominance www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Canada's annual Competition Summit is today with topics including empowering workers and consumers plus the unique geopolitical challenges of the moment. You can still register free, but I'll also be covering it via Do Not Pass Go. Event details are here: competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/how-we-fo...

Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell: Canada may currently be preoccupied by the U.S. threat, but policy makers and the public have "awakened" to the reality and dangers of domestic oligopolies and concentration - and there's no going back donotpassgo.substack.com/p/the-great-...