Brewing Up A Storm: Canada’s Competition Bureau Loses – Twice

January 2008 was not a great month for Canada’s Competition Bureau (the Bureau). It suffered two stinging setbacks in decisions issued by the Federal Court of Canada, both relating to the Bureau’s review of Labatt’s acquisition of another Canadian beer company, Lakeport Brewing. In the first decision, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) upheld a March 2007 ruling of the Competition Tribunal (the Tribunal) denying the Bureau’s application for an interim injunction prohibiting Labatt from acquiring Lakeport, pending completion of the Bureau’s review process. In a second decision, a judge of the Federal Court Trial Division set aside a production order obtained by the Bureau against Labatt and Lakeport, on the grounds that the Bureau had not provided adequate disclosure in its application materials.