Industry committee  I'll do my best. I wish I had a little bit more detail. This is kind of a factoid that's come up in some of my background conversations with a range of experts and scholars. My understanding is that maybe I need to go back and take a look and go on LinkedIn and count how many policy analysts there are.

Industry committee  My big observation for the competition environment with telecommunications is just recognizing that we allow providers to compete on both the infrastructure and the services, and this kind of structural function contributes to a lot of the challenges that have been documented. I hope that's helpful.

Industry committee  Yes, the paper does conclude by identifying about 10 or 11 areas of opportunity for us to start to reconsider. We're hoping it's a catalyst to more conversations. We don't want to be too prescriptive in proposing something as distinct as an amendment quite yet, but we do look forward to being, hopefully, an active and productive part of a more rigorous process going forward.

Industry committee  I've focused my testimony on the Competition Act specifically. I don't view the act as a form of red tape. It's kind of the guidance and guardrail to protect against anti-competitive behaviour. If I could, I'll pick up on something Mr. Kotak shared about the pandemic and going digital and bringing more companies online.

Industry committee  You know, my understanding historically is that the policy function of the Competition Bureau was minimized in about 2011. I can follow up on this. Yes, in terms of their intellectual independence, it's very difficult. I believe there was concern expressed that having the governance institution responsible for enforcement could create internal conflicts if they were also drafting the policy.

Industry committee  Of course. Just to start, I'll say that I echo the previous comments. Economist Robin Shaban is my collaborator on the white paper that I mentioned is coming up. As such, I do defer to her criticism and observations, and I think it would be smart, and it feels inevitable for us, to re-evaluate the efficiencies defence and what it's helping and what it's hurting.

Industry committee  We've certainly seen the comparative under-resourcing of our own Competition Bureau when it's put in that international context. I can't speak to the bureau having to pick and choose where to enforce. However, I can also say that I believe that a review of the Competition Act was hinted at, maybe in one of the more recent mandate letters, in an interview in the Globe and Mail with the outgoing minister of innovation.

Industry committee  Recently there's been more writing about exploring whether the Competition Bureau needs the capacity to be able to conduct market studies. Authorities in the U.S. can compel particular information from businesses in order to keep pace with trends in the sector and then better understand where there might be emerging issues of concern.

Industry committee  It strikes me that competition policy is inherently retroactive. We evaluate mergers after they happen. Sometimes we're going back in time, and what I worry about, since we're not being thoughtful about the digital economy and the implications of data and consumer data held by companies, is that we're going to be stuck in a situation where years in the future we're going to be retroactively applying that lens to companies in a way that, as I've said, appears disingenuous, confusing, and punishes firms more than empowers them to understand the most effective ways to be responsible innovators.

Industry committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Vass Bednar. I'm the executive director of McMaster University's new master of public policy in digital society program. As I'm the co-author of a forthcoming white paper on the state of competition policy in Canada, I'm going to focus my remarks on the potential for reform of the Competition Act, particularly as it relates to the digital economy.