Do Not Pass Go with Peter Nowak

Do Not Pass Go with Peter Nowak
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Your very own survival guide for our monopolized times. Do Not Pass Go is a weekly podcast and newsletter from veteran journalist Peter Nowak, reporting on and exposing corporate concentration and monopoly issues in Canada. www.donotpassgo.ca

  1. 6d ago

    Keeping Canadian Companies Out of Corporate Giants’ Hands

    The U.S. mid-terms are in sharp focus this week as the world awaits the outcome of what is, no exaggeration, one of the most important elections in the country’s history. What happens this week could determine the course that not just the U.S. takes, but the rest of the world. It’s against this grim backdrop that a bit of positive news is brewing here in Canada. In 2024, the federal government enacted new legislation that makes it possible for business owners to sell their companies to trusts owned by their own employees. Earlier this year, the feds followed up by making permanent an incentive that exempts the first $10 million of such sales from capital gains tax. We here at Do Not Pass Go firmly believe this is a rare good news story that relates to the two biggest challenges Canada is currently facing – sovereignty and affordability. Employee-owned trusts, or EOTs, give business owners a new avenue to exit that isn’t selling to a competitor, often a larger one, or to private-equity firms that are usually in the process of rolling up and consolidating sectors. Selling to an EOT keeps more competitors in the market – which affects choices, employment terms and options, and prices – and it keeps businesses Canadian-owned. So far, seven Canadian companies have converted to an EOT or declared their intention to do so. With the legislative and taxation runway cleared, many more are expected – potentially up to 100 per year. Those companies, EOT proponents and the emergent supportive industry around them recently convened for the third annual employee ownership conference in Vancouver. We covered that conference here last week – check out that story – and in this episode, we dive deeper into how the EOT phenomenon arrived in Canada, what the potential benefits may be, and what their future holds. The goal is as ambitious as it gets: to transform the Canadian economy. We speak with Craig Busch, head of Barrie, Ont.-based waste bin manufacturer Busch Systems about becoming the seventh Canadian EOT, as well as two U.K. company founders – Robert Postlethwaite and Dr. Shelley Poole – about their respective experiences in selling firms to their employees. Plus, Vancouver School of Economics professor Kevin Milligan weighs in, as does Jon Shell, vice-chair of Employee Ownership Canada and director of Aunty Combines Media, the parent company of Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Keeping Canadian Companies Out of Corporate Giants’ Hands

  2. Oct 29

    Can Economics Defeat Fascism? Isabella Weber Thinks So

    It’s an understatement to say the world is in turmoil. Riots and protests have broken out in Europe. War rages in Ukraine and the Middle East. Incumbent governments are being booted left and right. Numerous countries are backsliding into authoritarianism. None of this is surprising, according to Isabella Weber, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In her new book – Anti-Fascist Economics: In Defense of Affordability, Dignity, and Democracy – she lays out how we got here. In a nutshell, traditional neoliberalist economics that encourage market concentration and political subordination to those markets means economies are no longer working for the average person. This is a dangerous development, because it pushes people to extremist solutions. Weber joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to discuss where we’re at, and more importantly, how to course correct so that markets can once again work for people, rather than the other way around. For more on her book, click here. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Can Economics Defeat Fascism? Isabella Weber Thinks So

  3. Oct 22

    Will U.S. Midterms Put Antitrust Back on Track?

    Way back in what now seems like ancient history, in 2024, the antitrust movement was picking up steam around the world. U.S. competition authorities had launched a wave of cases against dominant companies while their Canadian counterparts were celebrating hard-fought battles to strengthen laws and budgets with the intention of doing the same. But then Donald Trump took office for the second time and that momentum stopped. High-profile U.S. cases against the likes of Google, Facebook and Live Nation fizzled and the Paramount-Warner Bros. mega-merger went through, while the Canadian government pivoted to focusing on sovereignty. With the U.S. mid-terms just a few weeks away and the Democrats looking to take back control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, it’s worth asking what sort of effect – if any – the impending flip will have on antitrust. If Trump is reined in, will competition enforcement be back on the menu in the U.S.? And if Congress can staunch some of the hostility the U.S. is showing towards its supposed allies, can those countries – including Canada – get back to focusing on their own internal issues? Here to answer those questions is David Dayen, executive editor of American Prospect and co-host of the Organized Money podcast. David is an expert on U.S. antitrust and, while he’s not currently optimistic about the state of competition enforcement right now, he does believe that a Democrat win could blunt some of the current administration’s worst excesses. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Will U.S. Midterms Put Antitrust Back on Track?

  4. Oct 15

    Should Politicians Be Able to Overrule the Competition Watchdog?

    There’s a significant battle brewing over the direction of Canada, and a humble can of peas is at the tip of it. Earlier this summer, the Competition Bureau announced it was challenging an attempt by Quebec-based food processor Nortera to acquire canned and frozen vegetable brands Green Giant and Le Sieur from New Jersey-based B&G Foods. The competition watchdog said the deal was a merger to monopoly that would give Nortera 90 per cent of the canned vegetable market and 80 per cent in frozen, which would lead to higher prices for consumers. The company said the deal was necessary to protect its business and Canada’s food safety against cheaper imports. As reported here, Nortera managed to convince the federal government of that argument, leading to tariffs being placed on imports and a review of the market by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. That body last month ruled that imports were indeed harming domestic processors, and that tariffs were justified. Though Nortera and B&G abandoned their deal earlier this month, the case highlighted the differing priorities – and the growing conflict – between the Competition Bureau and the federal government. On the one hand, the Bureau is applying new powers and funding that took years to acquire in protecting markets and consumers from abuses of dominance. On the other hand, the government is fighting a trade war and backing transactions that solidify sovereignty. Former competition commissioner John Pecman – now an advisor at Fasken’s law firm – is among those who has recognized this growing disconnect in consumer and industrial policies. In a new piece for the C.D. Howe Institute, he says the conflict isn’t necessary and that Canada will be better served by closer co-ordination between the government and the Competition Bureau. Pecman joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to discuss how this could work, including the introduction of a mechanism that would allow cabinet ministers to veto merger challenges by the watchdog when it comes to sectors designated as nationally sensitive. Read his intelligence memo here. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Should Politicians Be Able to Overrule the Competition Watchdog?

  5. Oct 8

    You Can’t Get a Campsite but the Ticketmaster of Camping is Making Millions

    Website crashes, interminable queues, a rash of fees that are climbing higher and higher… it sounds like we’re talking about concert tickets, right? The comparison is apt, according to Cameron Fenton. In a recent investigation for The Walrus, the B.C.-based travel and outdoors journalist looked into Camis Inc., the “Ticketmaster of camping” that controls the biggest and most popular campsite reservation systems in Canada. Besides this being a market dominance story, it’s also a sovereignty issue. Despite originating in Canada, Camis is now U.S.-owned and is pulling millions out of federal and provincial parks – money that Fenton says could be reinvested to meet growing demand. He joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to explain why it may be time to repatriate Canada’s camping booking systems and break one company’s dominance. Read Fenton’s article here. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    You Can’t Get a Campsite but the Ticketmaster of Camping is Making Millions

  6. Oct 1

    Do Not Pass Go Celebrates One Year!

    Don’t look now – Do Not Pass Go is officially one year old! It’s hard to believe we’re already at this point when it feels like just yesterday that we thought it might be a good idea to shine a spotlight on Canada’s competition problems. But here we are. Woohoo! It’s been an incredibly busy year, and certainly one with no shortage of news or issues to cover. This is our 126th post and our 53rd podcast, and we’re only just getting started. Literally! In this week’s episode, we go over some of the highlights from the past year and share exciting updates on the future of Do Not Pass Go… you’ll definitely want to watch or listen for all the goodies, but here’s a bit of a spoiler: We’re growing fast and expanding soon, and we’ve got a rebrand in the works. Plus, we’ve got Arshy Mann – co-founder of The Hatchet newsletter and podcast, whose monopoly series on Canadaland was one of the main inspirations for Do Not Pass Go. He’s back for another state-of-the-competition-union conversation, where we cover everything from airport privatization to consumer protection to whether the federal Liberals have a governing monopoly in Canada. Check out this pulse-pounding, super special episode – and don’t forget to subscribe! Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Do Not Pass Go Celebrates One Year!

  7. Sep 24

    Illegal, Unenforceable and Everywhere: Canada’s Non-Compete Problem

    The federal government introduced changes this week to labour rights through Bill C-39 that may make it harder for workers to strike, but it’s perhaps not even the most pertinent matter when it comes to employee rights. Despite being unenforceable in many jurisdictions and even illegal in others, non-compete clauses that restrict workers from switching jobs or starting their own businesses are rampant – and they’re on the rise. And Canadians have it especially bad. A study of 15 countries released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development this summer showed that Canada had the second highest prevalence of non-compete contracts, after only Spain. And while such restrictions originally applied only to high-ranking executives who might possess trade secrets, these clauses are rapidly expanding down the corporate ladder to even the lowest-ranking employees. Court cases in Canada have involved everyone from seasonal window washers to tattoo artists. Dan Andrews, head of the growth, competitiveness and regulation division in the OECD’s economics department and author of the report, joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to discuss how these restrictions are holding back economic growth by depressing wages, innovation and business creation. Check out the full OECD study here. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    Illegal, Unenforceable and Everywhere: Canada’s Non-Compete Problem

  8. Sep 17

    The Anti-Competitive Barriers Holding Canadian Films Back

    Canadian films account for only a small part of the overall Canadian box office, but they also make a disproportionate percentage of their money through independent cinemas. In fact, many earn their entire take through theatres that aren’t Cineplex or Landmark. In other words, if we’re talking about sovereignty – and Canadians making Canadian film is certainly part of that discussion – then we have to talk about independent cinemas and how important they are to the national fabric. It’s a poignant subject, with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s investment summit and the Toronto International Film Festival intersecting this week. A new report by the Network of Independent Cinema Exhibitors (NICE) – an association that represents 150 theatres across the country – lays out the challenges that independent theatres are facing, and how they’re often coming into conflict with anti-competitive practices by Cineplex and large distributors. From exclusive zones that prevent indies from showing movies to so-called clean-run demands that require them to play films for weeks at a time, these practices mean less room for Canadian-produced cinema at a time when demand for it may be at an all-time high. NICE founder and director Sonya Yokota William joins the Do Not Pass Go podcast to discuss the barriers that are holding Canadian films back, and how they could be removed. NICE’s report on “Market Access Barriers” can be found here, while the Canadian Movie Marketplace is here. Do Not Pass Go is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Do Not Pass Go at www.donotpassgo.ca/subscribe

    The Anti-Competitive Barriers Holding Canadian Films Back
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Your very own survival guide for our monopolized times. Do Not Pass Go is a weekly podcast and newsletter from veteran journalist Peter Nowak, reporting on and exposing corporate concentration and monopoly issues in Canada. www.donotpassgo.ca

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