Public Release of the VanDuzer Report

OTTAWA, November 25, 1999 — Today, the Commissioner of Competition has tabled before the Standing Committee on Industry (Statement by the Commissioner of Competition before the Standing Committee on Industry) a report prepared for the Bureau by Professor J. Anthony VanDuzer, Associate Professor, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa in collaboration with his colleague, Professor Gilles Paquet. The report is entitled Anticompetitive Pricing Practices and the Competition Act, Theory, Law and Practice. (PDF: 355 KB (report); 70 KB (appendices))

Following the review of Bill C-235 (now Bill C-201) by the Standing Committee on Industry, last spring, Committee members expressed concerns that the Competition Act may not give consumers and independent retailers adequate protection against predatory pricing. On April 20, 1999, the Standing Committee on Industry voted: "that at its earliest convenience the Industry Committee review the anti-competitive pricing practices within the Competition Act and any related enforcement guidelines and operations of the Competition Bureau".

In order to inform the debate and facilitate the work of the Committee, the Bureau has commissioned Professor VanDuzer to undertake this study which assesses:

• the adequacy of the pricing provisions in the Act;
• the appropriateness of the Bureau's interpretation and pricing enforcement guidelines with respect to the pricing provisions and;
• the suitability of the Bureau's administrative practices, enforcement policy and case selection criteria regarding the pricing provisions.

For further information, please contact:
Julie Hébert
819-953-4257