Archive for the 'Competition Law' Category
The CBC and others have reported on the continued progress of Bill C-10, the “Safe Streets and Communities Act”, which is now undergoing 11 days of Senate committee hearings (the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee) that will hear from about 100 witnesses.
Conservative Justice and Public Safety Ministers Rob Nicholson and Vic Toews are asking Senators to “expeditiously” approve the Bill.
Bill C-10, which completed second reading in the Senate in December, would, among other things, eliminate conditional sentences of two years or less (i.e., sentences served in the community rather than a correctional facility) from being ordered by courts for violation of two of the core criminal offences under the Competition Act: criminal conspiracy agreements (section 45) and bid-rigging agreements (section 47).
FEBRUARY 29, 2012 – Teleconference
The National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association will be holding a teleconference on February 29, 2012 entitled: “Criminal Conspiracy or Legitimate Competitor Collaboration? Tips for In-House Counsel”
I saw this rather fine note recently by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP (Anita Banicevic, Erika Douglas and David Stolow). We are reprinting it with permission.
Businesses operating in Canada should be aware of a recent trend towards greater regulation and enforcement action surrounding pricing representations where additional costs are not clearly disclosed up front. Last week, the Minister of State for Transport announced that the Canada Transportation Agency is proceeding with regulations to require Canadian air carriers to include all fees, charges and taxes in advertised prices. This trend towards requiring up-front disclosure of all fees and charges in any advertised pricing is consistent with the enforcement initiatives recently undertaken by the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) as well as the approach taken in recent class actions involving pricing representations brought in Québec and Ontario. The Bureau’s aggressive enforcement approach combined with an increase in class actions concerning pricing representations suggests it may be prudent for businesses to consider disclosing all fees imposed by the seller and applicable to all customers up front in any advertising.
The Globe and Mail, Reuters, Bloomberg and others reported that Maple Group, composed of 13 Canadian financial institutions, extended its C $3.8 billion mixed cash and share offer for the TMX Group for a fourth time to February 29th.
Maple’s offer to acquire the TMX is subject to approval from provincial securities regulators and the Competition Bureau, which commenced a second-stage review in November, 2011.
Some of the potential issues the transaction raises include a high degree of concentration in the trading services market and access and pricing issues in relation to clearing and settlement services, as in addition to combining the TMX with Alpha (Canada’s second largest exchange) the transaction would also include the acquisition of CDS Inc., Canada’s currently not-for-profit equity and fixed-income securities clearing operator.
The Competition Bureau announced last Friday in a news release that another seven individuals have pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy charges in relation to the Bureau’s ongoing gasoline price-fixing investigation in Quebec.
The Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, Huffington Post and others have reported that Rogers has launched constitutional arguments in response to allegations by the federal Competition Bureau that it misled consumers with performance claims in relation to its Chatr cell phone brand.
In particular, according to media reports, Rogers is arguing that the civil “performance claim” provision of the Competition Act is contrary to the freedom of expression rights under the Charter and that the penalties for civil misleading advertising are unconstitutional.
The National Competition Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association will be holding its annual Competition Law Spring Forum on May 2, 2012 in Toronto at the Toronto Board of Trade.
From the CBA:
“Aided by the 2009/10 changes to the Competition Act, the Canadian Competition Bureau has adopted an aggressive enforcement agenda. There are more cases litigated in the Tribunal and the Courts than ever before, including the first prosecution under the new conspiracy provisions of the Act. Commissioner Melanie Aitken has made it clear that there are more to come.
Our expert panellists will provide guidance on effectively protecting your clients’ interests at all stages – from preventative compliance programs to responding to criminal or civil enforcement actions. We are delighted to announce that Commissioner Aitken will be our keynote lunchtime speaker.”
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On January 19, 2012, the Competition Tribunal set hearing dates in the ongoing abuse of dominance case The Commissioner of Competition v. The Toronto Real Estate Board (see Scheduling Order).
The evidentiary portion of the hearing in this case is scheduled to begin on September 10, 2012 in Toronto.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
