Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Rogers Communications Inc. has closed its $26-billion purchase of Shaw Communications Inc. after receiving final approval from Ottawa last week, bringing to an end two years of uncertainty as regulators scrutinized the deal.
"This is a momentous day for our customers, who will benefit from the latest services and network technology, and for our teams, who have worked so hard to get us here," said Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri in a press release.
"We're proud to bring together these two iconic companies to deliver more value, more connectivity, and more innovation for Canadians."
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne gave the green light to the takeover on Friday by agreeing to the transfer of Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile's wireless licences to Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron, the final regulatory step allowing the main deal to go ahead.
Rogers and Shaw agreed in June 2022 to sell Freedom Mobile to Videotron for $2.85 billion in an attempt to ease competition concerns raised by the original proposal. Freedom's sale was also finalized on Monday.
In approving the deal, Champagne announced 21 conditions that Rogers and Videotron must adhere to, including Rogers establishing a second headquarters in Calgary and adding 3,000 new jobs based in Western Canada.
It must also spend $5.5 billion to expand 5G coverage and additional network services, as well as a further $1 billion to connect rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
Videotron must offer plans that are at least 20 per cent lower than its competitors and spend $150 million over the next two years to upgrade Freedom Mobile's network.
If Rogers breaches its conditions, it must pay up to $1 billion in damages. Videotron would potentially be subject to $200 million in penalties if it fails to meet its commitments.
"We are very pleased to be closing the acquisition of Freedom Mobile today, bringing its Canadian footprint as well as the expertise and experience of its employees into our fold," said Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau in a press release.
"The alliance of Freedom and Videotron will permanently transform Canada's wireless market for the benefit of consumers and create a new competitive environment that delivers innovative products and services at better prices."
Champagne also announced his department would not allow any further transfers of wireless spectrum until it completes a review of Canada's spectrum transfer framework.
Rogers first announced its deal to buy Shaw in March 2021 and the closing deadline has been pushed back numerous times since then. The deal was expected to close by April 7.
"Rogers and Shaw have been connecting Canadians for more than 50 years, and we're thrilled to come together as one company to build on a shared legacy of investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship," said Rogers chairman Edward Rogers in a press release.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.