Industry committee  Abuse of dominance is certainly not a criminal act. We intervene whenever a dominant company does anything to harm competition on the market. Such cases do occur, but sometimes such behaviour turns out to be very good for the market. For instance, there is predatory pricing. It c

Industry committee  I can certainly assure you, Mr. Chairman, that we spend considerable resources in this area, because we realize how important it is for Canadians, and for you as well, in looking at this market.

Industry committee  Certainly.

Industry committee  No.

Industry committee  We do investigations when we see that the law may have been broken. We have a very clear mandate regarding this. We see whether or not there is price fixing. If we think that there is any evidence of price fixing, we can go ahead. What you are describing, on the other hand, is th

Industry committee  Yes, this is possible.

Industry committee  Because things can vary according to certain criteria and other factors. The price of crude oil does not always impact the final retail price. Richard or the people from Natural Resources Canada can give you more details. Secondly, when you speak of refineries and provinces, th

Industry committee  —oil companies. As I said, we do not regulate prices and profits.

Industry committee  They do it either in writing or verbally.

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  They get in touch and reach an agreement.

Industry committee  No, not necessarily, because a dealer can take advantage of an opportunity...

Industry committee  —to raise—

Industry committee  I do not think so. Two companies are interested in investing in building refineries. They are only waiting for approval to go ahead. Building a refinery is extremely expensive and requires heavy investment over many years. Moreover, nothing guarantees that gasoline prices will re

Industry committee  No doubt.