Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. On behalf of the bureau, I am pleased to be here today to take part in this study.
As the chairman mentioned, I am deputy commissioner of the Competition Bureau's fair business practices branch, one of four deputy commissioners at the bureau charged with enforcing the Competition Act. I would like to give you an overview of the bureau's mandate and responsibilities, and outline how they relate to the topic you're studying today.
As colleagues of mine from the bureau appeared before the committee in June as part of your study of gas prices, I will be brief but would, of course, be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have afterwards.
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency headed by the Commissioner of Competition that enforces the Competition Act and three labelling statutes. Our goal is to ensure that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace. We deliver on our mandate by taking consistent, targeted enforcement action to ensure that we have the largest impact possible to promote competition, innovation, and productivity in the Canadian economy.
The Competition Act applies, with very limited exceptions, to all sectors of the Canadian economy, and sets out criminal and civil penalties for a variety of specific anti-competitive practices. These include engaging in misleading advertising and deceptive marketing activities; entering into agreements with competitors to fix prices, allocate markets, or restrict output; and abusing a dominant market position. We are also responsible for reviewing proposed mergers to determine whether they will likely cause substantial harm to competition.
As many of the members of this committee will recall, in 2009 Parliament passed the most significant amendments to the Competition Act in 25 years. Among other things, these amendments increased the penalties for deceptive marketing practices and empowered the courts to award restitution to consumers who purchased a product as a result of false or misleading representations. What's more, we now have the power to recommend a freeze on company assets to ensure that restitution for consumers is available in the future.
Consumers need accurate information to make informed choices, and our recent enforcement actions demonstrate our commitment to enforcing the act in this area. For example, in June we announced that Bell Canada had agreed to stop making what the bureau had concluded were misleading representations about the prices offered for its home phone, Internet, satellite TV, and wireless services. We found that the advertised prices were not in fact available, as additional mandatory fees were hidden from consumers in fine-print disclaimers. Bell was also required to pay an administrative monetary penalty of $10 million, the maximum amount allowed under the Competition Act.
In addition, we have recently sought refunds for consumers misled by false and misleading representations in two cases in particular—one in our case against Rogers regarding inaccurate claims of "fewer dropped calls'' than new wireless entrants; the other in our consent agreement with the maker of Nivea creams.
In addition to the 2009 amendments, in December 2010, Parliament passed Canada's first anti-spam law, as Ms. McDonald mentioned. Along with increased powers for the CRTC and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, this new law will enable the bureau to more effectively address false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices in the electronic marketplace, ultimately promoting greater truth in online advertising for the benefit of consumers, legitimate businesses and the economy overall.
As a result of these changes, the bureau is now better placed to protect Canadian consumers and businesses from the harm caused by anti-competitive activity, particularly in the challenging e-commerce area where tools and technical powers must keep pace with rapidly changing technology.
To turn to the committee's study, the online world is increasingly complex as businesses and consumers take advantage of innovative technologies to work, shop, and socialize.
Whether in the traditional or online marketplace, the bureau's priority is to get high-impact results for Canadian consumers and businesses through consistent, targeted enforcement action. In so doing, we not only punish violators, but more importantly, send a message of deterrence to those considering harmful anti-competitive activity, thus increasing consumer confidence.
As online activity crosses national borders, we coordinate with our counterparts in other countries to amplify the reach of our enforcement action in the extremely challenging frontier of e-commerce. We participate in coordinated Internet sweeps to search for sites that may potentially be deceiving or defrauding consumers. These sweeps are designed to improve consumer confidence in e-commerce by demonstrating that a vigorous and effective global law enforcement presence exists online.
In addition, we co-chair the Fraud Prevention Forum, a group of over 100 private sector firms, consumer groups, government agencies, and law enforcement organizations, all of whom are concerned with fighting fraud aimed at consumers and businesses through awareness, education, and promoting reporting so as to facilitate enforcement.
To conclude, in the world of e-commerce, just as with traditional commerce, our role is to detect and take principled action against anti-competitive behaviour that violates any of the provisions of the Competition Act, with a view to cracking down and deterring would-be offenders.
The responsible enforcement of the act is the most effective way for the bureau to have a positive impact in the online economy for both consumers and businesses.
My colleague Matt Kellison and I look forward to your questions.
Thank you.