Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Dehejia, I want to ask you a question about Bill C-56 in the context of the comments you made about loose money, the money supply and the effect that this could have on inflation. This bill is the so-called affordable housing and groceries act.
It might be reasonable for Canadians who are reading the title of this act to conclude that this bill is designed to make housing more affordable and groceries more affordable, but the reality is that it doesn't do either of those things.
I want to draw your attention to the comments of Michael Osborne, the chair of Cozen O'Connor's Canadian competition law practice. On this point, he says that “competition law...is not designed to solve macroeconomic problems like inflation.”
What he's referring to is an amendment to the Competition Act that would.... There are a number of amendments, but the main amendment would be to get rid of something called the efficiencies defence, which is an argument that large corporations will make to support the idea that government should permit a merger.
Mr. Osborne goes on to say, “By design, competition law cannot limit increases in the money supply; that’s the job of central banks.” He also says, “If a lack of competition is responsible for rising grocery prices, then competition law might be able to help. But the evidence doesn’t support this.”
Can you give me your view of those comments?