Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Chair, I would be happy to answer these questions as they pertain to the Competition Act. Generally speaking, the Competition Act is, as some of you probably are familiar with, a law of general application that really aims to encourage a competitive economy where the players are acting in predictable ways that encourage competition.

Finance committee  Certainly, Mr. Chair, and, once again, I would be happy to clarify that with respect to the Competition Act. Part of the work towards developing any potential set of amendments really does look at what's going on internationally and at ways in which Canada's current system compares.

Finance committee  Certainly, Mr. Chair, and again, I would be happy to answer that question. The government has committed to undertaking further work to consider the place of the Competition Act and what further reforms might be considered. That will be the subject of further engagement and consultation in the coming months, as there is a commitment for our minister in his mandate letter accordingly.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, the consultations will be forward-looking consultations, and thus on the broader matter that was outlined in the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. We'll be looking at some of the broader questions related to the function of the Competition Act in today's digital society and economy, as opposed to changes in the BIA.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, if you don't mind, we will answer this question together, as we are jointly responsible for implementing this commitment. The current amendments are step one of what will be required to enact a publicly accessible and searchable beneficial ownership registry. There are certain consultations that need to be undertaken with industry on the details of the implementation, and also some work that needs to be done—as the federal government must always do when collecting personal information—on the privacy requirements associated with holding that data.

Finance committee  Absolutely, Mr. Chair. We would be happy to follow up on that.

Finance committee  Yes, Mr. Chair. I would be happy to clarify that question. The change is from “50 years” after the life of the author to “70 years” after the life of the author.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to respond to this question on the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry. The changes in the BIA are intended to be a first and concrete step toward establishing that registry, so there are things the government is proposing to do immediately to make progress in the near term.

Finance committee  Unfortunately, I can't speak specifically to the government's future legislative plan for those amendments, but I can indicate, because of the accelerated timeline that has been announced as part of budget 2022, that the work plan toward defining and proposing those amendments will be greatly accelerated.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, the amendments, as I indicated, have been informed by inputs across a variety of different avenues and comments have definitely been made by a variety of people to parliamentary committees, or in the public sphere, or within an ongoing engagement between policy-makers and the stakeholder in question.

Finance committee  With respect to specific cases that are under way, because the Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that operates with some fairly strict obligations with respect to confidentiality, I of course would not be in a position to speak to any of those. However, certainly the department and our colleagues at the Competition Bureau do follow trends in the marketplace, trends in business activity, and of course the public information on the cases that the bureau publishes very closely, and use that to inform any policy options for Parliament's consideration.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was waiting for acknowledgement. I can speak to these amendments on behalf of the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. The amendments that were proposed as part of the budget implementation act are the product of ongoing policy dialogue with stakeholders and the Competition Bureau dating back several years, and the Bar Association is included in those conversations.

Finance committee  May I answer, Mr. Chair? Yes, Minister Champagne has signalled his intent to proceed with further consideration of changes to the Competition Act, as per the commitments in his mandate letter from the Prime Minister. There will definitely be engagement with stakeholders and consultation as part of that process in the coming months.

Finance committee  As the Competition Act is a law of general application, it does not typically distinguish between specific business models or types of industry. The law applies broadly across the entire economy. In the enforcement of that act, if cases come forward, the Competition Bureau considers them in light of the general provisions and makes its determinations in the enforcements in that way.

Finance committee  I would say that it depends on the specifics of an individual case and on the business model of the participants in the case that was being brought forward at that time. It would be very case specific.