Annual Report 1996/97 - Bureau Economists Play an Important Role in Economic and Regulatory Issues

Bureau economists and visiting academics holding the Bureau's T. D. MacDonald Chair in Industrial Economics provide expert economic advice to the Director on enforcement cases and related research matters. In 1996-1997, the Chair was held by Professor William Stanbury of the University of British Columbia.

Research played an important role in 1996. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Canada's Competition Act, the Bureau sponsored a symposium in May 1996, which addressed such topics as such as regulatory reform and the expanding role of competition policy in the Canadian economy, and conspiracy law in Canada. In the same month, an authors symposium on competition policy, intellectual property rights and international economic integration was held in Aylmer, Quebec.

The Bureau also commissioned research in a number of areas such as telecommunications, health care, regulation, and the Special Import Measures Act. This research assessed the effectiveness of the Bureau's intervention before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and also appraised health care reform and competition policy and the role of competition law enforcement in health care.

On the policy front, the Bureau provided its opinion on such diverse matters such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement in Basic Telecommunications and interdepartmental work relating to OECD discussions on agriculture and the maritime sectors. These views were expressed at the intradepartmental and interdepartmental levels.