Gov. seeking comments in review of Competition Act

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced Thursday that the government is seeking comments on how to update the Competition Act. "Today, with the launch of the review of the Act, I am seeking Canadians' views on broader changes to it and its enforcement framework, including changes that will help the Competition Bureau better protect consumers and the integrity of the marketplace,” Champagne said in a new release. The review will look at ways to improve all the key areas of the competition framework, including: the scope of the act; enforcement methods and corrective measures set out in the act; and the improvement or reinforcement of competition policy in increasingly digital and data-driven markets. Just a day after Champagne announced that the Department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) would “carefully evaluate potential ways to improve” the operation of the Competition Act, the Competition Bureau released a broad ranging set of recommendations. In one section that is sure to draw significant attention in both the telecommunication and broadcast sectors, the Competition Bureau recommended significant changes to the process by which it reviews mergers and acquisitions. The “merger provisions of the Act have been interpreted narrowly, in a manner that risks allowing businesses to complete anti-competitive mergers to the detriment of consumers and competition,” the bureau wrote, adding that the act as constructed “may permit anti-competitive mergers when the private benefits of merging outweigh the broader economic harm of the merger.” The bureau calls for the elimination of a provision of the law – section 96, or the efficiencies exception – that allows a merger to proceed on the basis of gains in efficiency that will “be greater than, and will offset, the effects of any prevention or lessening of competition,” in the language of the act. Earlier this year at an International Institute of Communications conference panel, Lawson Hunter, a former senior civil servant involved in the drafting of the Competition Act and a former BCE Inc. executive vice-president, said Canada’s competition laws have become too sensitive to price, particularly in mergers, and should instead focus more on the role of innovation and change. "This consultation is a critical step in achieving our government's commitment to improve competition and affordability for Canadians. This is why we welcome all comments providing perspectives or evidence concerning these issues, and options to improve the act,” Champagne stated in his release. Canadians can make written submissions online with a deadline set for Feb. 27, 2023. A series of roundtables will also be held with a variety of stakeholders.

Gov. seeking comments in review of Competition Act

Brief | November 17, 2022

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Gov. seeking comments in review of Competition Act

Brief | November 17, 2022

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