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Highlights
COMPETITION POLICY
2010 in Review: Developments at the Canadian
Competition Bureau
Kevin Ackhurst, Denis Gascon
Major developments were seen at Canada's Competition Bureau in 2010. With respect to mergers, the Bureau announced consultations with stakeholders on revising merger analysis framework. It also released new standard policies in response to the 2009 amendments to the Competition Act dealing with mergers. These developments bring about significant changes in the administrative timing of merger reviews in Canada and once again reflect the Commissioner of Competition's commitment to being transparent about the Bureau's enforcement approach. The Bureau released two additional enforcement bulletins in the fall of 2010 to clarify its enforcement approach with respect to compliance programs and the regulatory conduct defence, and to ensure that the Bureau's enforcement approach is modern and reflects best practices. Lastly, a settlement was reached with the Canadian Real Estate Association regarding its abuse of dominance investigation, thereby resolving this matter in a principled and expeditious way. As Kevin Ackhurst and Denis Gascon explain, overall, the developments of 2010 signal that the Commissioner of Competition is making efforts to communicate changes to stakeholders, improve transparency regarding its approaches, and settle cases in a principled and expeditious way where possible.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Investment Controls in Canada – 2010 Year in
Review
Martin G. Masse
Review of foreign investments into Canada is usually a necessary, but routine, consideration for non-Canadians investors. Last year, however, was an exception. The Investment Canada Act not only became a topic of discussion around law office boardrooms, it also found its way onto the front pages of Canadian newspapers, as the year was marked by a number of high profile cases which seemed to indicate a shift in the way that foreign investments are dealt with by Ottawa. In particular, 2010 saw the Federal Court uphold the government's use of the penalty provisions of the Investment Canada Act in the U.S. Steel case, the rejection by the Minister of Industry of BHP Billiton's bid for Potash Corp., and the approval by the Department of Heritage of the establishment of electronic booksellers in Canada by Amazon.com and Apple. While the vast majority of foreign investments into Canada proceeded without incident, these very visible cases have made it decidedly more difficult to advise clients looking to invest in Canada. Martin Masse examines these cases and explains how advising foreign investors has become more difficult as a result of them.
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Board
C.J. Michael Flavell, QC
Editor-in-Chief
McMillan LLP
H. Martin Kay, QC
Bennett Jones LLP
Martha A. Healey
Norton Rose OR LLP
Martin G. Masse
McMillan LLP
Andrew J. Roman
Miller Thomson LLP |