moved:
Motion No. 1
That Bill C-235 be amended by restoring the title thereof as follows:
“An Act to amend the Competition Act (protection of those who purchase products from vertically integrated suppliers who compete with them at retail)”
Motion No. 2
That Bill C-235, in Clause 1, be amended be restoring Clause 1 thereof as follows:
- The Competition Act is amended by adding the following after section 50:
50.1 (1) In this section,
“affiliate” has the meaning given to it in subsection 77(5);
“market area” means an area in which a seller customarily sells a product at retail or offers it for sale at retail.
(2) Every vertically integrated supplier who manufactures and sells a product at retail, either directly or through an affiliate, and also sells the product or a similar product to a purchaser who is not an affiliate but who is in the business of selling the product at retail, and who charges the purchaser a price that exceeds a ) the supplier's own retail price in the same market area as that in which the purchaser customarily sells the product or offers it for sale, less
(i) the supplier's own cost of marketing at retail, and
(ii) the supplier's reasonable return on the retail sale in the case of a direct sale, or b ) the price charged to the affiliate, in the case of a sale through an affiliate, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars for every day on which the offence is committed, in the case of a first offence, and twenty-five thousand dollars for every day on which the offence is committed, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years, or to both fine and imprisonment.
(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a vertically integrated supplier is not required to sell a product to a retailer at a price that results in the supplier receiving a lower return on the retail sale of the product when sold by the supplier or its affiliate than the customer's return on the retail sale of the same product supplied by the supplier, in the same market area.
Motion No. 3
That Bill C-235, in Clause 2, be amended by restoring Clause 2 thereof as follows:
“2. Section 78 of the Act is amended by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph ( h ), by adding the word “and” at the end of paragraph ( i ) and by adding the following after paragraph ( i ): j ) by a vertically integrated supplier, coercing or attempting to coerce a customer who competes with the supplier at the retail level in the same market area, in relation to the establishment of the customer's retail price or pricing policy.”
Madam Speaker, I remind the House that the rumours of the death of this bill have been greatly exaggerated. Many people probably know the bill has been returned as a blank sheet of paper. We are obviously entering new territory as it relates to private members' bills.
However, I want the House to understand that the bill is the product of many years of work. It is a recognition that in an era of globalization and megamergers in the place of productivity we are actually witnessing the need to have effective legislation, effective guidelines to protect the people who represent the backbone of our communities, small business persons.
The process that got us here was a very interesting one. I am pleased the House has seen fit to passing the bill at second reading. I thank the member for Cambridge and the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce for their support notwithstanding some of the objections by many who do not want to see a change to this important piece of legislation.
The competition bureau has pretty well demonstrated, as has the committee, that in five short days it could not possibly understand the complexities of our market, let alone the ambiguities and the shortcomings of our Competition Act, sufficiently to protect, most important, consumers and small businesses alike.
It is with that in mind that I argue why these motions are necessary. There will be a motion by Mr. Peric to make an amendment that would give wholesalers an opportunity to compete effectively.