Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House and speak, on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, to Bill C-20. If all the bill contained were provisions relating to fraudulent telemarketing, there is no doubt that we would be pleased to give it our strong support.
But this bill, which deals with fraudulent telemarketing, has many other provisions. In some ways, it resembles an omnibus bill, or an important overhaul of the Competition Act. We have very serious reservations about a number of the amendments and would be unable to support the bill at this time.
I would like to begin by stressing the importance of a law to promote competition. In both the United States and Canada, at the time of the industrial revolution, there were large social movements calling on governments to prevent trusts and large corporations from getting together and doing what they wanted.
Support for real competition was the beginning of social conscience and of public social conscience. This support came not only from consumers, but also from small businesses, which often suffered from agreements made over their heads and often against their interests.
I would remind the House that the Canadian Competition Act is two years older than its American counterpart. I would also remind it that the first prison sentence under the Competition Act in Canada was handed down on September 9, 1996 following a driving school price war between 1987 and 1991 in the Sherbrooke region.
Mr. Justice Paul-Marcel Bellavance of the Superior Court was quoted in Le Journal de Montréal the following day. This is what he had to say “In order to underline the objective seriousness of this kind of crime, which is not always taken seriously by the businessmen of this country, the court adopts the recommendation made by the crown—the crown meaning the federal attorney—that a prison sentence be handed down, even though I agree with the probation officer that what we have here is not an individual who lives off the proceeds of crime, and that the risk of recidivism is minimal, although he has a legal record that must be taken into account”.
Let me continue by quoting excerpts from the judge's ruling. He said “The difficulty in discovering the crimes of which the accused was found guilty justifies harsher penalties than mere fines. Indeed, fines are often paid by the corporate body, which lowers the degree of respect required to ensure the proper application and effectiveness of the Competition Act”.
The judge added “In fact, the supreme court recommended imposing penalties that will force Canadian business people to understand that unduly lessening competition and using threats to unreasonably raise or lower prices are prohibited. The interest of Canadian society requires an exemplary and appropriate penalty”.
A little further, he said “The financial, physical and psychological distress of the competitors who were subject to the threats of the accused, and the fact that half of the driving schools that were then in operation had to shut down following the accused's actions—with their competence not being an issue—are also aggravating circumstances”.
Earlier, the minister reminded us that consumers are businesses that need products made by other companies, as well as ordinary citizens.
It is important to remember the purpose of the Competition Act, as amended in 1985. Why do I go back to it? Because we can already see some possible contradictions that explain why I have many questions for the minister, for the Bureau of Competition regarding the changes they want to make to the Competition Act.
The current act reads as follows “The purpose of this Act is to maintain and encourage competition in Canada—” So far so good. But it goes on “—in order to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy”.
Already, this may lead to questions of interpretation. The purpose of the act also includes the following “—in order to expand opportunities for Canadian participation in world markets while at the same time recognizing the role of foreign competition in Canada, in order to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises have an equitable opportunity to participate in the Canadian economy—” That is not all: “—as well as with a view to ensuring competitive prices and product variety”.
It is understandable that these four key objectives may on occasion appear to be contradictory.
The efficiency of the Canadian economy plays a considerable role in the evaluation of mergers on competition, and the act itself—this may sound like gobbledygook but these are the prohibitions or conditions for application—states “The Tribunal shall not make an order under section 92 if it finds that the merger or proposed merger in respect of which the application is made”—even in the case of the two major banks that want to merge, just listen to this “—has brought about or is likely to bring about gains in efficiency that will be greater than, and will offset, the effects of any prevention or lessening of competition that will result or is likely to result from the merger or proposed merger and that the gains in efficiency would not likely be attained if the order were made”.
Basically, what this means is that there are two kinds of competition.
There is, for instance, the competition between two banks in Canada, and the effects it may have on small business loans, for instance, and on Canada's competitive position with respect to foreign businesses. It is therefore understandable that there are at least grounds for interpretation here.
The purpose of this review is to indicate just how important the Competition Act is, and how it also needs to reassure consumers, the public, small and medium size businesses, about the efficiency of the competition bureau and the mechanisms in place. It is important to keep in mind that the federal government is not the only one with a competition bureau.
It is important to keep in mind that the provinces have also looked out for their consumers. Quebec passed a consumer protection act a number of years ago in response to public demand. Several of the provisions in the federal legislation are also found in Quebec's law.
How can these two provisions co-exist? Because, as the House knows, Quebec, as a province of Canada, has authority for civil law. Canada has authority for criminal law. It is also responsible for interprovincial provisions. So I have to say that yes, here again, Quebec's legislation contains many of the provisions found in the federal legislation but that, so far, the way in which the federal law has been implemented has not resulted in overlap, or very little, which will not be the case or, at least, we will be in a very good position to ask questions with respect to the legislation as the government is proposing to amend it.
I repeat: the provisions regarding deceptive telemarketing should be passed. If these were the only provisions, we would be happy to see them passed, because of what we have seen, as quickly as possible. But, while this bill creates a new criminal offence in the case of deceptive telemarketing, something we support, this bill also decriminalizes the present competition act and numerous offences under the existing legislation. Decriminalization would give the commissioner, who is now the bureau's director, very extensive authority, including the authority to make out-of-court rulings and to agree on orders, on what companies must do to comply with the legislation.
We have a great many questions. There is a lack of logic. We are talking about a system in which companies could be subject to criminal charges, depending on the bill's provisions.
We find ourselves with a system where, in the future, the commissioner will be able to make deals concerning the enforcement of orders. We cannot look at that and applaud. There is a lack of logic in there, which will definitely not reassure the public, especially in these times we are going through.
Perhaps this is not what the government intended, but the enactments before us are certainly likely to have the impact I just described.
The wording of the amendments is all very politically correct. But when we look at their implications, it is quite another story indeed. The bill is said to be intended to improve the merger notification process and to reduce the regulatory burden of businesses.
I can understand that. Under the existing legislation, business people who agree to a merger without notifying the competition board face imprisonment. This provision has been eliminated. In the future, there will be a $50,000 fine. Even the notes from the research branch mention that.
It is fair to say that the regulatory burden will be reduced. But a few explanations are required here. Why was a system designed to show businesses that it is important to comply with the Competition Act replaced overnight by one that is said to be more expeditious? What assurance do we have that it will be as effective in convinving businesses to comply?
Not all businesses deliberately break the law, but we all know that there are some that take great glory in it or commonly do it.
The documents proposing speedy passage of this bill further state the following: “Ensure quicker and more efficient action against misleading advertising and deceptive marketing practices”. What they fail to say is that, with regard to misleading advertising, while there is still a provision under which charges could be laid under the Criminal Code, conditions that did not exist previously and which have significant implications are being added in the new legislation.
I will quote a passage from the legislation “No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever”—and they add three words “—knowingly or recklessly, make a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect”. It is quite something to add these words.
Currently, all documents from the Bureau of Competition provide that those responsible for misleading advertising, when it is misleading, even unintentionally, are liable to penalties, including jail sentences and huge fines.
So, the Bureau of Competition and the government are recommending that we amend the Competition Act, on the grounds that issues will be solved more quickly and efficiently. However, the bill almost totally changes the spirit of the act.
From now on, businesses will no longer be taken to court for a number of offences that used to be criminal offences. The commissioner will go before the Competition Tribunal—or another tribunal of his choice—but for what purpose? To have the court determine that a person is engaging in or has engaged in reviewable conduct. Members will agree that this is much nicer than to be accused and found guilty of a criminal offence.
From now on, a person might be found guilty of having engaged in reviewable conduct. In such a case, the court may order that person to do or not do something specific.
At worst—and this is something new which I am sure academics will look at very carefully—instead of being fined or even sent to jail, the person will be ordered, under clause 74.1(1)(c), “to pay an administrative monetary penalty”.
Why go that route? Let me try to explain. In Quebec, the same provisions are included in the Consumer Protection Act. The province can impose penalties in civil actions, something which the federal government cannot do through the Bureau of Competition and the tribunal. Therefore, it is trying to find another way to do something it cannot do directly.
Mr. Speaker, you are signalling me that I will have to continue after oral question period, which will, I am sure, be calm.