Annual Report of the Commissioner of Competition for the year ending March 31, 2004

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Appendix III - Conferences and Seminars

Conferences

On May 1, 2003, senior Bureau officials gave speeches at the 2003 Competition Law Invitational Forum at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario. The conference covered a number of the major issues facing Canadian competition law. The presentations reviewed several topics, including the challenges the Bureau faces in the future.

On May 5, 2003, a senior Bureau official attended the Imaging Supplies Coalition conference in Miami Beach to present information on North American telemarketing fraud enforcement and other initiatives.

From May 11 to 14, 2003, a Bureau representative presented several papers to the 38th Annual Conference of the Canadian Transportation Research Forum in Ottawa. A broad spectrum of topics was covered, including air cargo, air express, intermodal transportation and intercity busing. One of the papers was ranked among the top 10 of the more than 50 papers presented.

On May 12 and 13, 2003, a Bureau representative presented a paper at the Statistics Canada Economic Conference 2003 in Ottawa on empirical investigation of foreign entry into the Canadian banking sector. The conference covered themes such as trade and commerce, social comparisons, the economy and the environment, governance and the information economy.

On May 28, 2003, Bureau representatives gave a presentation on bid-rigging and the Competition Act at the Material Management National Workshop in Ottawa.

On May 29, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in Toronto on unfair competition and business practices.

On May 30 and June 1, 2003, Bureau representatives presented two papers at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Economics Association in Ottawa. One was on auction participation and market uncertainty, using evidence from the Bank of Canada's auctions. The other was on rebates as incentives to exclusivity. Bureau members also participated in a debate on electricity, and chaired or served as panel members in other sessions.

On June 10, 2003, a Bureau representative delivered a presentation to the members of the Club Richelieu in Ottawa on the Bureau's enforcement activities.

From June 28 to July 4, 2003, a Bureau representative attended and presented a paper at the 10th Annual Conference of the Multinational Finance Society in Montréal. The subjects discussed included international asset market structures, financial and international regulation and corporate ownership.

On August 10, 2003, Bureau representatives gave a presentation to enforcement officers at a jewellery anti-smuggling workshop hosted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto about the Precious Metals Marking Act and the Competition Act.

The Bureau had an information kiosk at jewellery shows in Toronto (August 10-12, 2003), Edmonton (August 15-17, 2003) and Montréal (August 24-26, 2003).

On August 14 and 15, 2003, a senior Bureau official spoke on cross-border deceptive marketing practices at the Leadership Conference of the American Bar Association's antitrust law section in Vancouver.

From August 18 to 20, 2003, two Bureau representatives attended the North American Consumer Protection Investigators' 26th Annual Business and Training Conference in Richmond, Virginia. The conference focussed on training and education in the area of civil and criminal consumer fraud. The conference included presentations and break-out sessions and provided an opportunity for members to network, exchange information and co-operate in matters involving consumer protection investigation, education and litigation.

On August 28, 2003, Bureau representatives gave a presentation to procurement officers from Public Works and Government Services Canada in Gatineau on bid-rigging and the Competition Act.

On September 9, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the Bureau's role and mandate to the St. Boniface, Manitoba, chamber of commerce.

In September 2003, Bureau representatives spoke to municipal government representatives in New Brunswick about bid-rigging and the Competition Act.

On September 16, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the Bureau's role and mandate to the competition law class of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law.

On September 18, 2003, Bureau representatives were invited to Toronto by the Consul General of Japan to discuss competition law and practices.

On September 19 and 20, 2003, a Bureau representative attended the 2003 meetings of the Canadian Law and Economics Association in Toronto, presenting a paper entitled Novelty, Non-Obviousness and Optimal Patent Policy. Subjects discussed at the meetings included intellectual property, competition policy enforcement in the U.S., competition policy and regulation and regulatory policy.

From September 19 to 21, 2003, a Bureau representative attended and presented a paper at the North Financial Association 2003 Conference in Quebec City.

On September 28, 2003, Bureau representatives gave a presentation to the Purchasing Managers Association of Canada in Brampton, Ontario, on bid-rigging and the Competition Act.

On October 1, 2003, a Bureau representative spoke on decision making related to corporate fines at the annual Cartel Conference, hosted by the European Commission in Brussels.

On October 7, 2003, a Bureau representative spoke about proposed amendments to the Competition Act at the 7th Annual Pricing Conference, hosted by Insight Conferences in Toronto.

On October 14, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation to the U.K. Office of Fair Trading on investigating misleading advertising and deceptive marketing practices.

On October 28, 2003, a senior Bureau official attended the AARP (American Association of Retired People)/National Consumers League Forum to present information on Canada's efforts to fight cross-border fraud.

On October 30 and 31, 2003, Bureau representatives attended the Air Policy Forum of the Canadian Airports Council in Toronto, and participated in discussions about various aspects of the changing airline industry. Subjects covered included air travel post-September 11, SARS, passenger services, the Canada-U.S. border in a single aviation market, and the way ahead. A senior Bureau officer made a presentation about liberalizing foreign ownership limits and opening up the Canadian market to more foreign competition.

On November 12, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on telecommunications to students in the industrial organization course at Queen's University, Kingston.

On November 13, 2003, a senior Bureau official attended the Canadian Institute's 7th Annual In-House Counsel Congress to provide an update on Bureau activities.

On November 13, 2003, a Bureau representative made a presentation on the Bureau's role and mandate at a seminar on competition law hosted by the Barreau du Québec (continuing education section).

On November 17, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation and participated in panel discussions on strengthening the civil provisions of the Competition Act at the 2003 Competition Invitational Forum, presented by the Institute for Professional Development in Toronto.

On November 19, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on bank mergers to the Treasury Management Association of Canada in Ottawa.

On November 20, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the Competition Bureau as part of the Legal Aspects of International Trade course at the World Trade Centre in Halifax.

On November 26, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the airline industry to students in the industrial organization course at Queen's University, Kingston.

From December 2 to 4, 2003, in Miami, the Bureau participated in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development seminars, presentations and panel discussions on selecting, preparing and winning competition cases. One senior officer gave a presentation on the Bureau's airline litigation, offering practical experience and examples of the steps taken to bring the case before the Competition Tribunal.

On December 5, 2003, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the Competition Bureau to the staff of the Canada-Nova Scotia Business Service Centre in Halifax.

On January 19, 2004, representatives of the Bureau spoke on deceptive telemarketing and other deceptive marketing practices to the Canadian Auto Workers' Retirees Association in New Westminster, B.C. The audience comprised primarily senior citizens interested in tips on avoiding deceptive telemarketing and protecting personal information.

On January 20, 2004, Bureau officials attended the Insight Competition Law Conference in Montréal and gave a presentation on recent and proposed amendments to the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act.

On January 22, 2004, a senior Bureau official attended the Canadian Institute Conference in Toronto, and gave a presentation on recent and proposed amendments to the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act.

On February 27, 2004, a senior Bureau official gave a presentation in London, England, at a seminar on mass marketing scams, hosted by the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading. The audience included local and national law enforcement authorities in Britain concerned with fighting scams and fraud.

On February 27, 2004, Bureau representatives attended the 2004 Competition Law Roundtable at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, and delivered comments on papers concerning abuse of dominant position in network industries, the interface between intellectual property law and competition law, and payment cards.

On March 4, 2004, a senior Bureau official addressed an audience of approximately 350 people at the Better Business Bureau's Scam Jam in Vancouver to introduce the Fraud Prevention Forum's "Recognize It. Report It. Stop It." awareness campaign.

On March 5, 2004, a Bureau representative gave a presentation on the Competition Bureau to students in the MBA program at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.

On March 8, 2004, Bureau representatives gave a presentation to the British Columbia Government Retired Employees' Association in Vancouver. The presentation "Falling for Fraud -- Anyone Can Do It!" emphasized the messages of the Fraud Prevention Forum's awareness campaign: "Recognize It. Report It. Stop It."

On March 25, 2004, a Bureau representative gave a presentation to jewellery design students at Georgian College in Barrie on the Precious Metals Marking Act and the Competition Act.

Seminars

Bureau staff held several seminars over the year. The following experts presented their findings.

On May 20 and 21, 2003, Gregory J. Werden, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and Luke Froeb, Vanderbilt University, presented a two-day course at the Competition Bureau entitled Unilateral Effects, Hypothetical Monopolist, which covered the findings in several cases.

On October 3, 2003, Anindya Sen from the University of Waterloo gave a seminar entitled "Inferring Collusion from Tax Incidence: Some Empirical Evidence from Canadian Gasoline Markets".

On January 16, 2004, Andrew Ching from Ohio State University gave a seminar entitled "Consumer Learning and Heterogeneity: Dynamics of Demand for Prescription Drugs After Patent Expiration".

On January 19, 2004, Xiaoting Wang from the Department of Economics, Queen's University, presented a paper entitled "Road to Efficiency: Exploring the Deregulated Electricity Market".

On January 29, 2004, Andy He from the Department of Economics, Carleton University, presented a paper entitled "Monopolist's Strategies Under Market Power: Mitigation Agreement in a Static Context".

On February 9, 2004, Lester Kwong from the Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, presented a paper entitled "Nonlinear Pricing with Collusive Consumers".

On February 19, 2004, Guofu Tan from the University of Southern California presented a seminar on bidding rings.

In October and November 2003 and March 2004, Aidan Hollis, the T.D. MacDonald Chair in Industrial Economics at the Competition Bureau, addressed the departments of economics at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, Queen's University, the University of Western Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier University and McGill University as part of each university's seminar series. The presentations were entitled "Novelty and Non-Obviousness in Optimal Patent Policy", "Preliminary Injunctions and Damages in Patent Suits", and "AIDS, Africa, and the Problem of Patents".

On January 22, 2004, Aidan Hollis presented a paper to Industry Canada staff entitled "Preliminary Injunctions and Damage Rules in Patent Law", as the inaugural lecture in a series organized by the department's Industrial Analysis Centre.