Miscellaneous Amendments to the Competition Act

Backgrounder

June 21, 2002

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Certified Copies

Section 11(1)b) of the Competition Act allows a judge to order a person to provide a copy of a record, certified by affidavit as a true copy, to the Commissioner for the purposes of furthering an inquiry under the Act instead of having to produce the original record as presently required. Under subsection 18 (1.1) of the Act, the Commissioner is not required to return any copy of a record produced pursuant to section 11.

Confidentiality Provision

Section 29 affords full protection against disclosure of any information voluntarily provided pursuant to the Competition Act. However, this protection does not apply in respect of any information that has been made public or where the person who provided the information authorizes its communication.

Consent Agreements

The Commissioner and the person against whom an order is sought or may be sought under Part VII.1 (reviewable deceptive marketing practices) or Part VIII (matters reviewable by Competition Tribunal) of the Competition Act can agree on the terms without having to refer to the Competition Tribunal for an order.

Section 105 deals with the immediate registration of consent agreements in respect of matters under Part VIII. Interested third parties can challenge a consent agreement where the terms of that agreement could not have been the subject of an order by the Tribunal.

Sections 74.12 and 74.13 have been reworded to better reflect that the court does not make an order, but the parties make a consent agreement that is filed and registered with the court.

Consent Agreements - Parties to a Private Action

New provisions allow parties to a private action to conclude a consent agreement. The agreement must be published in the Canada Gazette and registered 30 days after its publication.

Written opinion in the Competition Act

The new legislation will allow a person to seek from the Commissioner of Competition an advisory opinion^* on the application of any provision of the Competition Act or the regulations. The applicant will be required to submit all supporting information relating to the request. A written opinion will be binding on the Commissioner provided that material facts are submitted and that they are accurate. In addition, the opinion remains binding as long as the material facts remain substantially unchanged and the practice or conduct carried out substantially as proposed.

Footnotes

^* The provision that relates to advisory opinions under the Competition Act (section 124.1) will come into force at a later date.