Proposed Amendments to Canada’s Competition Laws
Date:
February 9 2009
On February 6, 2009, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-10 (Budget Implementation Act, 2009) (the “Bill”), which, among other changes, proposes broad reforms to the Competition Act R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34 (the “Act”), and certain amendments to the Investment Canada Act R.S.C. 1985, c. 28 (the “Investment Act”). We find it unusual to include such sweeping amendments to the Act in budget implementation legislation, which may limit the amount of debate and revision the provisions are subject to. The Bill comes on the heels of the final report of the Canadian Competition Policy Review Panel (the “Review Panel”), released in June 2008, following which the Conservative Government of Stephen Harper indicated it would consider incorporating many of the Panel’s recommendations.
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