Industry committee  When we have reasons to believe, we do have ways to collect the information from a variety of sources, from the industry but also from independent parties in the marketplace.

Industry committee  If the situation were to arise, there are a variety of ways we could look at it. If it were a situation where a merger was happening in the marketplace between two refiners, as we saw with Encana and Suncor and Petro-Canada, we could look at it. In that case, we reviewed it, we collected information, and when we saw that we had concerns with that merger, we negotiated a consent agreement with Suncor.

Industry committee  I would say a combination of all those. One of them was Katrina. That's a pretty big trigger. We did look at the price spikes in relation to Katrina and we did determine that it was due to a shortage of supply resulting from the hurricane in that situation. I would also say that we've had enforcement matters related to gasoline dating back a number of years.

Industry committee  We can initiate inquiries of our own volition. We can initiate inquiries of six residents, supply an affidavit alleging anti-competitive activities. We can also commence an inquiry if the Minister of Industry directs us to do so. We also have the power right now to conduct what we consider to be market structure studies, where we can go into an industry, ask questions to study the structure of the industry, and assess whether there are barriers in that industry that exist that don't make that industry particularly competitive or less competitive than it could be.

Industry committee  That is one of the concerns. There are no specific triggers in Bill C-452 to dictate to us or to tell us when we should open up an inquiry, but--

Industry committee  Well, bigger than that is that there are costs on both sides, whether there are any costs on the bureau and costs on business. You can understand that issuing formal powers, going to a court to secure a subpoena power, forces companies to spend a lot of time to respond to those requests and to also ensure that they're complying with a legal order from a court, and if they don't comply with that order, they do open themselves up to criminal sanctions.

Industry committee  That is correct. We could initiate an inquiry into an entire industry without regard to any specific allegations.

Industry committee  Gasoline has always been a hot topic for the Competition Bureau, dating back to the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission in the 1980s that Mr. Vincent referred to in his opening statement. But even more recently, we monitor gasoline prices and stay abreast of developments in the industry, specifically to respond to complaints we get about price fixing in the gasoline sector and other types of alleged anti-competitive activities in the marketplace.

Industry committee  There are several methods available. A company may hire a lawyer to call us and make representations to the bureau in order to tell us about the situation his client was faced with, and the lawyer provides an explanation. The same thing applies in the case of any Canadian deciding to call.

Industry committee  Indeed.

Industry committee  I do not have the exact figure for the last 12 months. However, I can tell you that at this point, we have 45 formal investigations—investigations called pursuant to section 10, which we are referring to today. Thirty per cent of these 45 investigations were initiated on the basis of means other than an individual calling our office to report an anti-competitive act.

Industry committee  You are right. Investigating an industry sector without any specific allegation of an offence under the act could affect the reputation of that sector. That is particularly worrisome in situations where there is no allegation of collusion or anti-competitive behaviour. There is always that concern.

Industry committee  What is the question?

Industry committee  The act creates the parameters. If there are price fixing allegations, the parameters are there. Under section 45, we can investigate those allegations. Under section 10, if there is reason to believe there is a cartel, the commissioner may, on her own initiative—with or without a complaint—launch an inquiry and use her official powers to determine the relevant facts, in order to determine whether there is indeed a cartel and whether she should refer the matter to the Attorney General.

Industry committee  We do have the power to investigate. We had it before the Bill C-10 amendments came into effect in March 2010. Whenever the commissioner has reasons to believe that an offence under the act has been committed or that there are grounds for a court order, she has the power to cause an inquiry to be made under section 10.