On March 25, 2015, three substantive amendments (the “Amendments”) to the Investment Canada Act (the “Act”) and its regulations were published in the Canada Gazette:
On October 3, 2014, the Commissioner of Competition (“Commissioner”) announced the appointment of Rambod Behboodi as the Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Promotion Branch – the new branch within the Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) that will be created as part of the Bureau’s realignment initiative, where its existing eight branches will be consolidated into four. The
On August 26, 2014, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) published draft Guidelines for the Production of Electronically Stored Information (the “Draft Guidelines”) for public consultation. The Draft Guidelines sets out the Bureau’s preferred standard format for receiving electronically stored information during the course of an inquiry or investigation under the Competition Act (the “Act”), whether
On June 26, 2014, the Commissioner of Competition John Pecman gave a speech at the 2014 Canadian Payments Association’s Payment Panorama in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Mr. Pecman reiterated many of the key issues and initiatives that the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) has been focusing on recently, such as the 2014-2015 Annual Plan, restructuring of
On June 5, 2014, Lisa Campbell was appointed to the position of Senior Deputy Commissioner of Competition of the Merger Branch of the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”). Ms. Campbell was mostly recently the Deputy Commissioner of the Fair Business Practices Branch of the Bureau. A week later on June 12, 2014, Ms. Campbell gave a
On April 2, 2014 the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) released a draft update of its Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (“IP Guidelines”) for public consultation. First released in 2000, the IP Guidelines articulate how the Bureau approaches the interface between competition policy and intellectual property (“IP”) rights, and describe how the Bureau will determine whether conduct
The principal Canadian competition law theme in 2013, as with the year before, was enforcement. Criminal enforcement in the areas of price-fixing, bid-rigging and misleading advertising continued with new guilty pleas against various companies and individuals (e.g. auto parts, air cargo, chocolate, real estate advisory services contracts, gasoline and retail multiple telemarketing schemes). The Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) released two decisions involving the Toronto Real Estate Board (“TREB”) and VISA and MasterCard that provided significant interpretations of the scope of the abuse of dominance and price maintenance provisions of the Competition Act (the “Act”). The Superior Court of Ontario also released its decision dismissing, in part, the Competition Bureau’s (the “Bureau”) misleading advertising charge against Rogers and Chat-r with respect to the claim of “fewest dropped calls”. Finally, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in Tervita Corporation v Commission of Competition. Five months earlier, the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) upheld the order of the Tribunal requiring Tervita Corporation to divest the Babkirk hazardous waste landfill site in northern British Columbia that it obtained through its acquisition of Complete Environmental Inc.
With respect to private litigation, the Supreme Court of Canada released a trilogy of long awaited decisions in proposed class proceedings brought by indirect purchasers of products alleging competition law violations. The Supreme Court concluded, among other things, that indirect purchasers have a cause of action, resolving a conflict in appellate jurisprudence in Canada. The Supreme Court’s decisions are expected to have a profound impact upon cartel-related class actions in Canada.
2013 also saw John Pecman appointed as Commissioner of Competition on June 12, 2013 for a five-year term. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Mr. Pecman held the position of Interim Commissioner from September 2012 to June 2013.
Our Bulletin reports on these and other developments.Continue Reading 2013 Canadian Antitrust/Competition & Marketing Law Year in Review
