Industry committee  Yes, sir.

Industry committee  All right. On your first question in respect to the shortage of gas and the increase in price, we actually see it as a normal response in the marketplace. When there's a shortage of supply, the price goes up. It's supply and demand. On the concern about trying to introduce cont

Industry committee  I don't know if Richard has anything to add, but quite frankly, I think that's probably something where you'll find significantly more expertise on the following panel than ourselves. We really are following pricing in the marketplace. Richard.

Industry committee  Again, I think that's probably a question our colleagues are more suited to answer. It doesn't really deal with the anti-competitive acts that we might see in the refining industry. We're very focused on whether we think these folks are getting together and somehow reaching an ag

Industry committee  Again, businesses often respond to an actual or anticipated shortage. So even though they may have some fuel in the ground, they may be anticipating that they're going to be facing shortages and they may take pricing actions in response to that.

Industry committee  We are looking at the amount of gas available and how it corresponds to price spikes, and that is exactly what attracts our attention when we see price spikes. That's when we wade in to see if we think some anti-competitive acts might have taken place, whether there's agreement a

Industry committee  I think this is a demand issue rather than a supply issue. We're looking at increased demand prior to a weekend.

Industry committee  Because the way supply and demand works, one anticipates what one can obtain in the marketplace where there's high demand, and prices go up when there's more demand.

Industry committee  Well, we look into whether we think there's anti-competitive behaviour as opposed to whether they're taking appropriate pricing action. As I said, our act doesn't outlaw people from making a profit. What it says is that they can't engage in anti-competitive behaviour. That would

Industry committee  This is a question of proof and evidence. We need proof; we need evidence in order to act. We consistently communicate with the public to say, please tell us anything you can and we will be happy to investigate. There's nothing we like more than having the necessary information s

Industry committee  No, we're investigating regional conspiracies right now.

Industry committee  Again, let's just keep in mind that we don't have jurisdiction to respond to price gouging. I would say far and away the most complaints we receive at the bureau relate to price gouging and not to price fixing. With respect to price fixing, we would welcome, as I said, evidence

Industry committee  It's extremely successful. Now, we have not had anyone come forward from the oil and gas industry. We have had many people come forward from many other industries. Last year we had record domestic fines with respect to price fixing in the fine-paper industry. We had Domtar, Casca

Industry committee  We can if we have a reason to believe there's been a contravention of the legislation. Another source for us to get surprisingly good information is through the media. We have an investigation going on right now, which I can't talk about in detail. But I can tell you it was med

Industry committee  Absolutely not.