Tank Suppliers In Hot Water With Canadian Bureau

The Canadian Competition Bureau is continuing its relatively torrid pace of abuse of dominance and other reviewable practices cases. While the first decade of the 2000s saw a period of some eight years with no new cases filed, under the previous Commissioner, Melanie Aitken, four cases were filed under the abuse of dominance or related reviewable practices provisions in three years. There had been some speculation that with the handover from Ms. Aitken to John Pecman, the Bureau's enthusiasm for contested cases, including in particular abuse of dominance cases, might wane. The early evidence, at least, is to the contrary.

In his speech of December 5, 2012, which we reported on in an earlier brief, the new Commissioner indicated that he would continue an aggressive enforcement stance where appropriate, although he advised that it would work to keep dialogue open with the Bar and other relevant stakeholders. Certainly that dialogue is ongoing, but so is the enforcement