January 13, 2011
The Competition Bureau has appointed a new Associate Deputy Commissioner of Criminal Matters (see: Matthew Boswell Appointed Associate Deputy Commissioner of Criminal Matters).
In making the announcement, the Bureau said:
“Mr. Boswell will be taking a leave of absence from his position as Senior Litigation Counsel for the Enforcement Branch of the Ontario Securities Commission, where he represented staff of the Commission before various levels of court, as well as before the Commission. In that capacity, Mr. Boswell provided legal advice on all aspects of enforcement matters, including the use of investigative powers and tools.
Mr. Boswell previously served as Assistant Crown Attorney for the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario) preparing and conducting criminal prosecutions. He has also worked in private practice as a civil and criminal defence litigation counsel on a variety of files with a focus on regulatory matters.
Mr. Boswell will work closely with Senior Deputy Commissioner John Pecman, so we can benefit from his complementary criminal prosecution and defence background as we move forward with our enhanced criminal powers and mandate.”
This new appointment is being seen by some as a further step by the Bureau to reinforce its more aggressive enforcement posture under the helm of the (not so new anymore) Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken. In this regard, the Bureau has indicated in recent public announcements that it was currently working on some 40+ criminal cases. While the Bureau has long stated that the detection and enforcement of cartels was an enforcement priority, to be fair those statements were at times more policy than reality.
The Bureau, private plaintiffs and corporate counsel are also working to understand the boundaries of Canada’s new U.S.-style criminal conspiracy regime under the amended Competition Act, which remains largely speculative in the absence of any decided cases under the new rules.
The Bureau does, however, now appear to be increasingly serious about focusing on its enforcement priorities, including criminal cartels, bid-rigging, misleading advertising and deceptive marketing, as well as working to develop new case law under the unilateral conduct provisions of the Act, including the abuse of dominance and newly amended price maintenance provisions.
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