Council Reports
Report of the C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
The Supreme Court will rule on Thursday, October 31, in landmark Competition Act decisions. The key question before the Court is, when anticompetitive cartel behaviour is alleged in class action proceedings, should indirect purchasers, such as retailers and end consumers, have standing to sue for damages? Given the likelihood that awards to individual class members might be very small, or zero, even should a suit succeed, it appears that deterrence, not compensation, should be the aim of law and policy. This is the consensus view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its sixth meeting on October 24, 2013.
The Competition…
C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
Canada’s Competition Bureau should improve the incentives for cartel members to abandon cartels and report their existence, according to the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council.
The Competition Policy Council comprises top-ranked academics and practitioners active in the field of competition policy. The Council, chaired by Finn Poschmann, Vice President, Research at the C.D. Howe Institute, provides analysis of emerging competition policy issues. The Council, whose members participate in their personal capacities, convenes a neutral forum to test competing visions and to share views on competition policy with practitioners, policymakers and the public.
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C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
The Competition Bureau should actively engage in competition matters in regulated sectors of the economy, where anti-competitive conduct may be protected by government legislation or authority. This is the consensus view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its fourth meeting on November 8, 2012.
Members of the Council held that the Bureau should more clearly delineate the scope of anti-competitive practices that it sees as protected by provincial or federal legislation or delegated authority; and it should be directly engaged in regulatory decisions that potentially impair competition. As well, the Bureau should contribute independent analysis…
