Great. Thank you, Chair, and thank you to Mr. Singh for appearing before the committee.
I want to cover the overlap between what the government has presented and this bill. Obviously, we passed major competition reforms with Bill C-56. It empowers regulators to hold the companies accountable, and it does stand up for Canadians. We gave more power to the Competition Bureau to conduct more effective investigations. We made it easier to block mergers that are not in the best interest of Canadians and took action against collaborators that stifle competition and reduce consumer choice.
If there were something lacking in Bill C-56, I think that was largely covered by Bill C-59, whose amendments have resulted in a more modern and effective competition law. Among other things, they help prevent harmful mergers and anti-competitive collaborations, and they hold the large firms accountable.
I want to talk about your testimony in response to Mr. Badawey's questioning. You talked about how, perhaps, what your bill brings is more of a focus on price-fixing and on penalties, but then I look at Bill C-19, which is from 2022 and says:
Division 15 of Part 5 amends the Competition Act to enhance the Commissioner of Competition's investigative powers, criminalize wage fixing and related agreements, increase maximum fines and administrative monetary penalties, clarify that incomplete price disclosure is a false or misleading representation, expand the definition of anti-competitive conduct, allow private access to the Competition Tribunal to remedy an abuse of dominance and improve the effectiveness of the merger notification requirements and other provisions.
When I look at all these bills in combination, it largely seems that what Bill C-352 is proposing is already covered.
What are your comments on that?