By Tim Sargent, October 29, 2024
Re “Buckle up for an activist Competition Bureau” (Editorial, Oct. 23): Cheering for recent changes to the Competition Act, based on the Competition Bureau’s action against Cineplex for “drip pricing” seems misguided. In reality, consumer protection law already allowed the bureau to look into such conduct.
Furthermore, the bureau should not attempt to “follow the leader” by copying U.S. regulators’ targeting of companies in pursuit of headlines. Businesses should be under the competition microscope based on whether they harm consumers, not because of their weight in the S&P 500.
Instead, we hope to see the bureau continue to think for itself and prioritize fighting hurdles to competition, such as its investigation of property controls that may block new entry in local grocery markets. Cutting food costs might not grab the same kind of headlines as crusading against large companies, but it would be a real help to Canadian households.
Tim Sargent Director of domestic policy, Macdonald-Laurier Institute; Ottawa
