In terms of trade spend. That's because of the concentration of power in the hands of just a few. The tighter and more concentrated it is.... It's a dichotomy, Mr. Chair, because on the one hand the major distributors keep asking for more, and on the other hand the manufacturers often pay more after.... I know it's more difficult to extract the dollars now, but there are all kinds of arrangements in which it's exclusivity, or exclusivity in this category, and that kind of thing. Virtually everything you see in a store, right down to the bags that are used, is under some type of arrangement, to that degree. The bigger you are, the more you can extract.
What some of the major companies have done to avoid that pressure, both in Germany and to some degree in Canada, is say “You might represent half of my business in Canada, but you're only four percent of my business in North America; I'm reporting on a North American basis, and I can afford to say enough is enough.”
That's what happened in Germany with a couple of major companies, and there was a bit of a backup. A couple of companies are trying this here in Canada, but it's a very difficult issue, and we are aware that the manufacturers have taken this issue to the bureau at the present time. I don't know what the status of it is.
Is it illegal? I don't know. You'll have to determine whether it's anti-competitive. It certainly changes the ability of others to compete in the landscape. I don't know of any country, outside of those that have dictatorial regimes, that has outlawed it.