Mr. Speaker, today I am addressing the House on the subject of private member's Bill C-235, an act to amend the Competition Act.
I am pleased to state my full support for this much needed bill. I wish to congratulate my colleague, the member for Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, for seeing this bill to second reading and for the work of his committee on behalf of all Canadians, especially our small and medium size businesses.
In essence, this bill would provide for the enforcement of fair pricing between a manufacturer that sells a product at retail either directly or through an affiliate and who also supplies product to a customer who competes with the supplier at the retail level. This provides a supplier's customer with a fair opportunity to make a similar profit as the supplier at the retail level in a given market area.
A supplier who tries to force a customer to set a certain retail price on marketing policy may under this bill face a fine, imprisonment or both. Bill C-235 would establish a clear legislative basis for the enforcement of industry wide fair pricing policies. That is why I believe the proposed legislation would go a long way toward repairing the industry's battered image among the general public.
The reason I am so concerned about gas prices today is there can only be one winner or loser at the gas pump and that is the consumer. Unfortunately a summer's worth of rapidly changing prices at the pumps has only served to frustrate and anger consumer in my riding of Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale as well as those living both in Ontario and across the country.
Without a doubt gasoline pricing is a politically sensitive issue and will remain so until certain problems within the system are addressed. After all, gasoline prices are probably the most advertised prices in Canada. Every citizen sees them every day and often is shocked when they suddenly go up. Unfortunately normal supply and demand economics cannot account for the large price swings that Canadians see at the pumps.
Though the committee on gas pricing's report concluded that price fixing and collusion do not occur, it added that it does not occur because it does not have to. All a station manager has to do is look at his competitor's sign and match his price. Indeed price signs on retail outlets can be an easy way for market participants to achieve the same results without having the resort to any illegal activity.
Still, I would like to make it clear that there remains too much mystery surrounding the relationship between the refining and the retail operations of integrated companies such as Shell and Imperial Oil.
What is needed is greater transparency within the industry since as things stand now very few Canadians have any idea how much these big companies charge their own stations. There is still a lot of smoke and mirrors within the industry.
I again acknowledge the tremendous initiative and leadership demonstrated on this matter by our colleague, the member for Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge. This member not only helped to create the caucus committee on gasoline pricing, he also agreed to be our chair.
Bill C-235 would give the customer a fair opportunity to make a profit similar to that of the supplier, hence ending the practice known throughout the industry as unfair pricing. Since that is what the bill aims to resolve I wish to call on my fellow members of parliament to join me in support of Bill C-235.