Capital Perspectives - Newsletter
The large supermarket chains' joint pull back of pandemic
"hero pay" from their hourly workers in June 2020
triggered a hearing surrounding this event by the House of Commons
Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (Industry
Committee) and an investigation by the Competition Bureau. This
matter continues to be of interest to the Industry Committee, with
more meetings on the subject of possible reforms to the
Competition Act (the Act) to be set for April 2021.
While many stakeholders were questioning whether
"employment-related" agreements could result in criminal
charges under section 45, the conspiracy provision of the Act, in a
Sept. 14, 2020 letter from Commissioner of Competition,
Matthew Boswell, to Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Member
of Parliament, the Commissioner only made reference to the
civil agreements between competitors provision in reference to
potential wage-fixing. The Commissioner noted that the burden
