Thanks for allowing me to speak to this. I think another one was going to be discussed.
I want to speak very briefly to subclause 597(2), which is the private right of action for litigants to bring forward cases to the Competition Bureau under the greenwashing provisions.
A couple of years ago, these provisions were brought in unanimously through the House, through Bill C-59, with an understanding that private enforcement would complement what the Competition Bureau could do and just add capacity where the bureau doesn't have capacity. That's because they have a very large mandate across the entire economy, including merger review, cartels, wage-fixing, abuse of dominance and deceptive marketing. They do great work, but they don't have limitless resources.
Since this provision has come into force, there hasn't been a single deceptive marketing case brought forward in this way. There was some argument that this would lead to floodgates, but this very much has not materialized, and it's not hard to understand why: It is because there are actually no damages or financial rewards for private litigants to bring forward cases. They would have to raise funds and commit resources up front to bring forward a case that has to be deemed in the public interest.
Importantly, since this was tabled last fall, the Competition Bureau has come out with further safeguards in a decision that was announced last month in Martin v. Alphabet, which made it clear that leave for private litigants would be granted only when they can demonstrate that it's genuinely in the public interest, there's a serious issue grounded in competition law, there's a real and continuing interest, there's a coherent theory of the case, including how evidence could be obtained, and there's a concrete litigation plan. In other words, the tribunal has established very significant guardrails that would effectively screen out any vexatious or strategic claims.
I just wanted to put that to the attention of the committee before voting on these provisions.
Thank you.