Actually, if I remember correctly Bell was not own by the government, Telus was. Over time Bell as sold and bought different telephone services from or to the

Actually, if I remember correctly Bell was not own by the government, Telus was. Over time Bell as sold and bought different telephone services from or to the provincial governments. It was however granted a monopoly by the government on long distance, and by some provinces on local service. The monopoly was granted to allow them to create the infrastructure, even to places where it would probably not pay off. They still are a terrible company to deal with and the internet service offering is really not that good in Canada.