Rogers has found a buyer for Shaw’s wireless carrier Freedom Mobile, a deal that the telco giant hopes will help it win regulator approval to takeover Shaw.

What happened: Quebecor, the Montreal-based company that owns Quebec’s largest telco Vidéotron, agreed to buy Freedom Mobile for $2.85 billion. 

• Freedom is currently owned by Shaw, the country’s fourth-largest telco, which Rogers is attempting to buy.
   
• The Competition Bureau is attempting to block Rogers’ takeover of Shaw on the grounds that it would eliminate a fourth competitor in Canada’s wireless sector, leading to fewer choices and higher prices for consumers. 

Why it matters: With both Vidéotron and Freedom Mobile under its belt, Quebecor claims it would be able to compete in the wireless space nationwide—but it’s not clear the arrangement will satisfy regulators who still must approve the Rogers takeover.

• In a recent filing, The Competition Bureau argued that the separation of Freedom from Shaw’s cable television service would reduce Freedom’s ability to compete with the likes of Rogers and Bell because it won’t be able to bundle different services—a problem that likely isn’t resolved with Quebecor as a buyer, since most of its customers are in a single province.
   
• Rogers argues that the bureau’s complaint is unfounded and that Freedom never depended on selling to Shaw’s cable customers to effectively compete.

Other potential buyers of Freedom have also criticized the Quebecor deal: the chairman of Globalive Capital, which offered to pay $3.75 billion for Freedom, said Quebecor was unlikely to compete aggressively with Rogers outside of Quebec.

What’s next: Both Quebecor’s purchase of Freedom and Rogers’ takeover of Shaw must still be approved by the Competition Bureau and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. If regulators continue to block the deal, the Competition Tribunal will take up the case with hearings beginning this fall.

Railway strike: Canadian National Railway workers went on strike over the weekend after negotiations with the company broke down. The strike only impacts 750 signals and communications workers, but could still worsen transportation bottlenecks that have contributed to higher prices.

Organizing Apple: Workers at an Apple store in Maryland voted to unionize on Saturday, the first Apple retail store to do so and a development that could significantly impact the tech giant’s business if more locations follow suit.

Germany tags in coal: Germany is ramping up its use of coal plants to make up for a decline in Russian gas imports, a move that will undermine its climate policy of phasing out coal by 2030.

Colombia's new president: Gustavo Petro, a former member of a leftist rebel group, won Colombia's presidential election yesterday promising to end oil exploration and expand social programs.

Inflation: Another month, another nerve-wracking inflation report. On Wednesday we’ll find out just how quickly prices rose in May. Analysts are predicting we’ll land somewhere in the 7% to 7.5% range, up from 6.8% in April. 

Housing: Average home prices for May arrive from Statistics Canada on Tuesday. Forecasters expect prices will be up 0.2% since April. An unexpected decline in home prices would be a signal that the economy is softening, something that may cause the Bank of Canada to think twice about more aggressive interest rate hikes.

Retail: Data on retail sales for May also comes in on Tuesday. We’ll be watching this to see how consumer spending is holding up during these rocky economic times. Strong retail sales numbers would reduce worries about a looming recession.

Everything else:  

• National Indigenous Peoples Day is tomorrow and St. Jean Baptiste Day is on Friday.
  
  
• Every year we’re pleasantly reminded that despite weeks of warm weather, summer hasn’t even begun yet—it officially kicks off with the summer solstice tomorrow.

🏙️ 80%. How many of the five North American cities with the highest cost of living versus average income are located in Canada, according to a study by PolicyAdvisor—Mississauga, Vancouver, Toronto, and Hamilton all ranked in the top five.

🛥️ $350 million. The price tag (in USD) for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s luxury Boeing 787 which was seized by the US Department of Transportation (here are some pics from the fancy interior).

🏁 0.993. The number of seconds Formula One driver Max Verstappen finished the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of second-place driver Carlos Sainz in Montreal yesterday, securing his 26th career victory.

Melting sea ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has opened a new path that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Now countries are rushing in to stake their claim, per The Wall Street Journal. 

What happened: A group of Alaskan, Finnish and Japanese companies have partnered to build a 14,000-kilometre undersea communications cable running through the Northwest Passage, which goes around Canadia’s most northern islands and loops under Greenland. 

• Over 400 of the world’s subsea cables, bundles of fibre-optic lines, carry ~95% of voice and data that crosses oceans.
   
• New cables through the Arctic could transmit data faster between key economic hubs, like London and Tokyo, than existing southern routes (which are often longer).

Zoom out: Ownership of territory and territorial waters within the Arctic Circle is split between Norway, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the US, Canada, and Denmark, but because the region is mostly sea there is no international treaty protecting it from economic development. 

• As geopolitical tensions between Westen countries and Russia rise, Russia is also planning a cable to improve its digital infrastructure in the increasingly vital area. 

The area is becoming increasingly politicized in recent years, and the war in Ukraine has resurfaced concerns over countries that want to gain economic advantage and control over the region—it’s a vast space filled with potential trade and cable routes. 

Why it matters: Industries like banking, defence, and science would all benefit from faster communications, and northern communities could also get better internet access.

• Why are Rolls-Royce cars so expensive.
   
• The bizarre story of a Canadian flight crew that discovered $25 million worth of cocaine on the private jet they were operating and are now trapped in the Dominican Republic.
   
• Another reason to send more letters: this Jeopardy contestant lost in Final Jeopardy because of bad handwriting. Was she robbed?
   
• IKEA has put all of their catalogues dating back to the 1950s online if you’re looking for some midcentury design inspiration.
   
• Long listen: Short-seller Jim Chanos explains why he sees more pain ahead for stocks.