Free Market Theories Again Hit Canadians Right in the Pocketbook

Another neoconservative, free market theory has gone up in flames, as deregulation hurts the Canadian consumer ... again.

This time it was the telephone industry, that is enjoying massive profits at our expense.

A report detailing the effects of deregulation in the telecommunications industry finds Canada's three largest telephone companies have benefited at the expense of consumers.

... Its author, Michael Janigan, told CBC News that four years after deregulation, Bell, Telus and Rogers are making "super-normal profits," while consumers are paying too much and getting too little in terms of service.

"We still have three big players with over 90 per cent of the market, and they're pretty fat and happy," Janigan said in an interview with CBC News. "We're still seeing the incredible clout of the big telcos in relation to their ability to swing competition in their favour." The report points to a policy decision in December 2006 by then Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that ordered the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to use market forces to the maximum extent possible ...

Don't fret over all those profits though. They are getting another huge tax break. Whew. That was close. They almost had to give us some of our money back.

Higher taxes, higher gas prices, higher telephone bills. Good job Harper. Remind me again why neoconservatism is good for us.