We will await your thoughts on that. Thank you.
Many of the provisions of your bill have already been applied, since they are part of bills that were passed earlier, such as Bills C‑56 and C‑59. However, part of it would still add a lot of constraints on competition authorities.
Essentially, with the legislative changes that have been made so far, not only must the competition bureau look for efficiency gains before authorizing a transaction, but it must now also be possible to prove that consumers have benefitted from the efficiency gains. Your bill then adds a constraint associated with market structure, not the consequence of a merger. If the combined market share resulting from a merger exceeds 60%, it will be prohibited, and if it is between 30% and 60%, there will be an investigation, if I understand correctly.
What would happen, for example, in cases where there is what is called a natural monopoly, in remote regions? There are grocery chains in very remote regions that have trouble staying open, and if they do not merge in order to take over the market, they will go bankrupt and people will no longer have food.
Do you know that the inflexibility of your bill would prevent people from eating, in some regions? Have you thought about that?