Darrin called me this week. And he talked to me as if we were best pals, as if we’d known each other for years. I asked for an explanation.
“I’m Darrin,” he said, cheerfully. “from Rogers Communications.”
And I knew instantly this call was a pitch. I decided to listen to what he had to say, because my wife and I have been concerned about what’s happening to our cable TV service. (more…)
The meeting happened on a November afternoon in 1998. A big merger was in the wind. Rumour of “Yea” or “Nay” ran rampant across the country. One man in the room at a Montreal home argued his industry needed to grow bigger in order to compete globally. The other feared that sector’s customers, Canadian consumers, might not be well served. The industry man got riled.
“You’re not listening to me!” complained John Cleghorn, chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada.
“Mergers … are not in the best interest of Canadians,” said Paul Martin, the MP and cabinet member.
This exchange, described by the Canadian Encyclopedia, recreated the meeting between banker Cleghorn and then finance minister Martin at the latter’s Montreal home. (more…)