Steve Jobs Receives Tributes From Canadian Partners and Competitors

TORONTO - Rogers Communications’ Nadir Mohamed, president and CEO of Canada’s biggest mobile phone operator, has good reason to praise Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple who died Wednesday, aged 56 years.

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Rogers had an exclusive agreement with Apple to supply Canadians with the iPhone when the revolutionary smartphone was first unveiled.

“Steve Jobs was one of the greatest innovators of our time. He revolutionized how we consume entertainment, access information and stay in touch by making iconic devices that are brilliantly designed, intuitive and easy to use… He will be sorely missed,” Mohammed said in a statement.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-CEOs of BlackBerry maker RIM, who compete against the iPhone and iPad tablet, also offered praise for the late Apple co-founder.

“Steve Jobs was a great visionary and a respected competitor,” they said in their own statement.

Consumer-friendly Canadian politicians that have been looking to open the domestic media market to new competitors also praised Job’s legacy.

Federal heritage minister James Moore, labelled the iPod minister for his support of digital products and copyright reform, wrote on his Twitter account: “Visionaries are rare. The world just lost one.”

And federal minister Tony Clement tweeted that he was mourning Jobs by using his Apple products.

“Listening to my iTunes on my MacBook Pro, typing goodbye to Steve Jobs on my iPhone,” Clement said.