Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Standing Committee on Industry and Technology has addressed anti-competitive practices on several occasions, particularly in relation to telecommunications technologies, large technology corporations and so forth. We also addressed this topic in our study of the labour shortage being experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises.
We have heard from many witnesses concerning the considerable decline in competition, which should be examined. This includes presentations by Ms. Vass Bednar, Ms. Jennifer Quaid and Mr. Edward Iacobucci, who all spoke about the merger of companies and the reduced number of players, situations that are increasingly common on the market. We have also heard from Ms. Robin Shaban and Ms. Yelena Larkin on this topic.
I'd like for us to take their comments into account in the analysis we'll submit to the Standing Committee on Finance. Their comments should also maybe be included in our recommendations.
In 2020‑21, our committee also conducted a study that shed light on the power of a small group of grocers who had agreed to reduce the COVID‑19 wage premium they were paying workers. The study showed how they could exercise greater power over the sale of a majority of foods. These examples are far from unique, and this raises more and more concerns because we are unaware of other situations out there.
The commissioner of competition, Mr. Matthew Boswell, chose not to pursue the matter because, under the Competition Act, as it exists today, fixing salaries is not considered to be a criminal act. Only agreements between competitors to fix the price of goods are seen as a criminal act.
My question is for Ms. Tiessen, from Unifor.
Ms. Tiessen, do you think the amendments made will serve as a deterrent for employers who might be tempted to use practices now defined as anti-competitive?