MPs have issued a stern warning to Rogers Communications CEO Tony Staffieri, ordering him to testify before the Commons industry committee by December 5 under threat of contempt of Parliament and possible arrest.The demand comes after Staffieri failed to appear to address complaints about alleged price gouging and the company’s disregard for service contract terms. Instead, Rogers sent another executive, Bret Leech, president of residential services, to testify, prompting MPs to dismiss him without comment.“This is much like the service Rogers provides its customers,” said Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill). “They think we’re stupid. They really do.”The committee’s frustration boiled over after Staffieri, who earns $12.9 million annually, ignored a unanimous October 28 motion requesting his testimony. Conservative MP Rick Perkins (South Shore-St. Margarets, N.S.) criticized the CEO for treating the committee with disdain.“These guys are so contemptuous of Parliament that they are above it,” said Perkins. “Find the time to get on the private jet and fly here. I have had enough.”Liberal MP Joel Lightbound (Louis-Hébert, Que.), the committee chair, called Staffieri’s absence “quite disrespectful,” adding, “It is a solemn occasion to answer to Canadians through MPs and to cancel at the very last minute.”The committee unanimously passed a motion summoning Staffieri to appear for at least two hours. Failure to comply could result in being formally admonished as a “witness in hiding,” an act that could lead to detention by the Sergeant at Arms.New Democrat MP Brian Masse (Windsor West, Ont.) accused Rogers of attempting to avoid accountability. “At the last minute, they did a rope-a-dope on this committee,” Masse said. “It was part of a play to avoid accountability.”Government MPs were equally unsympathetic. Liberal MP Chandra Arya (Nepean, Ont.) dismissed any notion that Staffieri’s political connections could shield him. “If he thinks he has got political connections that can prevent him from appearing before the committee he is wrong,” Arya said.Arya also criticized the telecom industry’s dominance. “Rogers, Bell, and Telus are not just ordinary Canadian companies. They are sort of protected, coddled, for a long time,” he said. “Canadians are getting squeezed.”
