The Commissioner

Melanie L. Aitken

Biography

Melanie L. Aitken is Interim Commissioner of Competition.

The Commissioner is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act and three labelling statutes, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Precious Metals Marking Act and the Textile Labelling Act.

Under the Competition Act, the Commissioner can launch inquiries, challenge civil and merger matters before the Competition Tribunal, make recommendations on criminal matters to the Attorney General of Canada, and intervene as a competition advocate before federal and provincial bodies.

As head of the Canadian Competition Bureau, the Commissioner leads the Bureau's participation in international fora such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Competition Network (ICN) to develop and promote coordinated competition laws and policies in an increasingly globalized marketplace.

Ms. Aitken joined the Competition Bureau in 2005 as Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Competition, Mergers, and was appointed Senior Deputy Commissioner, Mergers in May 2007.

From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Aitken was a partner at Bennett Jones LLP, practising commercial and competition litigation. Between 2001 and 2003, she was seconded to the Department of Justice (Canada) as Senior Counsel, where she was involved in major competition and trade litigation before the Competition Tribunal and the Federal Courts. Prior to her two-year secondment, Ms. Aitken was a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto.

Ms. Aitken has appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada and on numerous appeals and hearings, including as counsel for the merging parties in Superior Propane, Canada's leading merger efficiencies case.

She has been listed as a leading Competition/Antitrust lawyer in Chambers Global, The World's Leading Lawyers and as top 40 under 40 by Lexpert (2005).

She was elected in 2007 as a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. She is an appointed Co-Chair of the University of Toronto Academic Appeals Tribunal and has been an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode and Queen's Law Schools.

Ms. Aitken received her LL.B. from the University of Toronto and received the Dean Cecil A. Wright Key.