Rogers Misleading Advertising Case Gets More Interesting All The Time

Bottom Line: When Rogers Communications Inc. ("Rogers") said it was going to "vigorously" defend itself against allegations of misleading advertising by the Competition Bureau, it wasn't kidding. As proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice continue, Rogers has unleashed a major challenge to the constitutional validity of both the civil penalties (administrative monetary penalties or "AMPs") provided for under the Competition Act ("Act"), and the long-established principle that an advertiser needs to have 'adequate and proper tests' of its performance claims before making them to the public. If successful, this case could have significant ramifications for enforcement of misleading advertising under the Act, although it will likely be a while (and a few appeals later) until we have a final outcome.