Industry committee  We go about our work in the parameters set out by the act and set out by case law in Canada. We review mergers to determine if they're going to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in Canada. That's our focus when there are acquisitions. We do the work.

Industry committee  Those issues are certainly beyond my mandate as commissioner of competition.

Industry committee  I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment. These are public health considerations that I don't have the foundation to make an appropriate comment on.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I'll start. The act has a maximum financial penalty for false or misleading representations, which was the section of the act that we were investigating Facebook for. The maximum is $10 million. As a matter of general course, we'll give a slight discount for parties that co-operate and resolve the case.

Industry committee  Thanks for the question, Mr. Masse. The bureau does not have specific price-gouging powers, and that issue has come to light once again during the pandemic as there have been complaints of different types of price gouging related to products that people were looking to buy on an urgent basis in terms of the pandemic.

Industry committee  I guess it would depend on what aspect of the law was updated. These are often tricky investigations that involve wiretaps and search warrants in getting to the truth.

Industry committee  I'm not in a position to comment on how much of my advice they take into account. My role is to provide that advice. I did so on March 27, 2020, in an extensive report that set out extensive competition concerns about the Air Canada acquisition of Air Transat.

Industry committee  Well, I will try to be objective because, obviously, I'm extremely proud of the Competition Bureau and the amazing people who work here. The number of times I have heard from colleagues around the world, including colleagues at the OECD competition committee and the International Competition Network....

Industry committee  Madam Chair, perhaps I'll start and my colleague Mr. Durocher can supplement. On Monsieur Lemire's question, in terms of Air Canada's proposed acquisition of Air Transat, that's a situation where the Canada Transportation Act allows the Minister of Transport to make a decision that there will be a public interest review of that matter.

Industry committee  Madam Chair, I thank the honourable member for that question. An interesting aspect of this, when one looks at the international landscape, and specifically the United Kingdom.... The United Kingdom's code of conduct in terms of grocery-supplier relationship developed as a result of an in-depth market study undertaken by our counterparts in the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority, which is the U.K. competition enforcer.

Industry committee  Back in May 2019, in an open letter to me, Minister Bains asked me to start a team here at the bureau to work with his team at ISED to make sure the Competition Act was fit for purpose in terms of tools, legal framework, resources and all those issues. We have been working with Minister Bains' team since that letter was received, and we're continuing to work with them going forward.

Industry committee  We work with partners all around the world. We work very closely with our Five Eyes partners, our European partners and many others. What I can say is that our assessment from inside the bureau is that Canada's competition enforcement agency.... We are it for Canada. There are no provincial competition enforcement agencies, unlike in the United States, where each state has an attorney general who deals with competition.

Industry committee  I'm not too familiar with the connection to Bill C-11 in that regard, but what I can tell you is that it's very clear, with these large platforms, that data is a huge factor in controlling the market. If you control the data and it's very difficult for entrants to come in and acquire the necessary data to have the scope and the scale to compete, those are very significant issues in terms of competitive intensity and new entrants coming into a market.

Industry committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I see the warning sign, so I'll be as succinct as I can be. These are pressing issues for the bureau. We are working as hard as we can to do the most we can with what we have, but the world is incredibly complex in terms of competition law enforcement. It's getting more complex and more demanding every day.

Industry committee  What I can say is that—as I think I've said several times—we're focused on doing as much as we can with the resources we have, and I'm proud of the bureau's track record. We have a wide mandate in terms of enforcement. We bring a lot of enforcement actions, and we have done so for very many years.