Despite this, the decision was greeted by a storm of criticism from the usual anti-business crowd. Now the industry committee seems to think it can do a better job than the Tribunal. There is no reason to believe it can. The Tribunal panel was chaired by Paul Crampton, a judge who has specialized in competition law since just after Canada’s new Competition Act was enacted in 1986. The two other panel members were appointed to the Tribunal because of their experience in economics and business.
The Tribunal heard evidence for 17 full days. It heard witnesses from the Bureau, Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Bell, and Telus, as well as economic experts. And these witnesses were cross-examined by lawyers for the opposing party. The Tribunal then received lengthy legal submissions and heard two full days of argument. By contrast, during its 2021 hearings into the merger, the industry committee sat for a mere eight hours over four days.
Does the Tribunal always get it right? No. Did it get it right in this case? I think it did, but that doesn’t really matter. The Competition Act assigns responsibility for deciding whether mergers harm competition or not to the Tribunal. Its decisions can be appealed , but its findings of fact are all but unreviewable. The government has furnished the Tribunal with the tools to do the job Parliament assigned it by staffing it with expert judges and economists.
fpcomment Less choices for Canadians is always a bad idea.
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