Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to join in this second reading debate on what I think is very important legislation. I heard the parliamentary secretary indicate that the government is very anxious to hear all ideas on the subject.
I must say that I very much support the legislation. It is very timely and indeed overdue. It addresses a serious problem that affects some of the most vulnerable in society.
I particularly like the provision in the bill that blends criminal penalty with civil penalty. One of the problems with the existing Competition Act is that too much of it is done through the Criminal Code, a pretty heavy instrument to use on what can be in some instances relatively minor infractions in the area of misleading advertising. In the case of telemarketing it would be the same. We need to have a blend of penalties.
However I have significant reservations about one area of the bill. The bill, while very well intentioned, will miss the mark when it comes to applying the provisions for improper telemarketing against organizations which wish deliberately to carry on deceptive practices and wish to evade the law.
There exists in the legislation an ideal way for organizations to evade the intent of this law. I refer to clause 12 of Bill C-20 which will amend section 52.1 of the original Competition Act. This is basically the clause which applies the bill to the various entities that may be affected by it. The clause states that 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 whatsoever, knowingly or recklessly make a representation to the public which is false or misleading in a material respect.
I submit that there are two problems with that clause. First, it refers to the supply or use of a product. What happens if there is no product involved and what in fact is being telemarketed is a campaign? What if it is fund raising for a non-profit organization?
Then we go on a little further and it states for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest. Unfortunately a non-profit organization or a charity, either of those two separate entities, by definition are not engaged in a business interest.