Council Reports
Report of the C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
May 15, 2012 – The Competition Bureau should clarify how it will apply its powers under the Competition Act in seeking administrative monetary penalties for abuse of dominance, according to a consensus of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its third meeting on May 7, 2012. The Competition Policy Council comprises top-ranked academics and practitioners active in the field of competition policy. Chaired by Finn Poschmann, Vice President, Research at the C.D. Howe Institute, the Council provides analysis of emerging competition policy issues. The Council, whose members participate in their personal capacities, convenes a neutral forum to test…
Report of the C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
The Competition Bureau should better define and clarify its legal view on when ordinary business practices or strategic alliances will be treated as offences and subject to civil review or criminal prosecution, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. Otherwise, businesses may be inhibited in their ordinary activities, or inclined to avoid entering strategic agreements with competitors that would be of benefit to Canadian consumers. In addition, the Bureau has not pursued court actions testing the criminal provisions of the recently revised Competition Act, and this may have resulted in harmful price-fixing activities going unchecked. This…
Report of the C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
It is time to end foreign ownership restrictions in the Canadian telecommunications sector, to make better use of competitive forces in providing telecommunication services to consumers. This is the majority view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its inaugural meeting June 17, 2011. The meeting addressed the following question: “Should the federal government end existing foreign ownership restrictions in Canadian telecom because of their impact on competition?”