Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Minister. Thank you for being here today.
We are very pleased with all the amendments to the Competition Act proposed in Bill C‑56. These are fundamental changes. People have been calling for them for some 20 years. The amendments will bring us more in line with practices in the United States and Europe, particularly when it comes to the bureau's analyses going forward. Up to now, any time a proposed acquisition promised economies of scale or efficiency gains, it was approved, regardless of the abuse of dominance that might ensue.
In that connection, the committee has begun looking at Royal Bank's acquisition of HSBC Bank. The Competition Bureau did a study, but under the old toothless regime. Do you agree with me that, once Bill C‑56 is implemented, the Competition Bureau should redo its study of the transaction under the new more binding rules, particularly from an abuse of dominance standpoint?