Thank you very much for the question.
The changes proposed in the BIA result in corporations now facing administrative monetary penalties, or AMPs, of up to 3% of annual worldwide gross revenues. Let me talk a little bit about the legal process first. If an AMP is penal in nature rather than just a deterrent, then it's effectively a criminal penalty. The alleged offender must be tried in accordance with due process requirements of section 11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Neither the misleading advertising nor the abuse of dominance provisions that attract these new significant penalties are criminal offences. The burden of proof to be convicted in these areas is a lower balance of probability standard of proof. The increase to the fines to be set on global revenues of the firm, where the penalties could easily be in the billions of dollars and—this is the critical part—are not directly related to the harms of the practice, greatly raise the likelihood that the fines could be found as penal and, therefore, unconstitutional.
With these large potential penalties, not only is there a risk of unconstitutionality. There's also a risk of overdeterrence. Firms may shy away from some of the practices that are going to be beneficial for Canadians. These potential fines raise reputational risks for Canada as well of not being supportive of foreign direct investment.