Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has worked hard to fashion himself as a future party leader based on boundless energy to sell Canada the world. Indeed, Champagne’s oft-repeated stories of cold calls that resulted in investments by companies such as Volkswagen and Moderna paint a picture of a minister jetting around the world in support of the Canadian economy. Unfortunately, Champagne’s record is also one of a minister less interested in what is actually happening at home. His privacy legislation has languished for months and he has been entirely missing on digital policy, where fishing expeditions such as the one involving Bill C-18 are likely to make companies reticent about entering the Canadian market. This morning there was another lasting and damaging development as the approval of Rogers-Shaw merger (or more accurately the approval of the transfer of licences that pave the way for the merger) will mean that Champagne will have presided over the destruction of the competitive communications market with both another major merger and the sudden disappearance of many independent providers.
Archive for March 31st, 2023

Law Bytes
Episode 239: The Rise and Fall of Canada’s Digital Services Tax
byMichael Geist

June 30, 2025
Michael Geist
June 23, 2025
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Recent Posts
Risky Business: The Legal and Privacy Concerns of Mandatory Age Verification Technologies
Another Canadian Digital Policy Own Goal: Corporate TikTok Ban Leads to Millions in Lost Cultural Group Support
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 239: The Rise and Fall of Canada’s Digital Services Tax
Canada’s DST Debacle a Case Study of Digital Strategy Trouble
Canadian Government Caves on Digital Services Tax After Years of Dismissing the Risks of Trade Retaliation