16 | LEXPERT • December 2014 | www.lexpert.ca
COMPETITION ENFORCEMENT
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
IN COMPETITION
ENFORCEMENT
BARELY A YEAR into his tenure, Canada's newest Competition Commissioner,
John Pecman, announced a restructuring of the Competition Bureau, which has historically
been divided into four enforcement branches: Criminal Matters, Civil Matters, Mergers, and
Fair Business Practices.
Under the realignment, Criminal Matters and Fair Business Practices have combined and
will be responsible for all criminal cases including conspiracies, cartels and bid-rigging. Mergers
and Civil Matters will also combine, with responsibility for all non-criminal matters, including
mergers and non-criminal competitor agreements.
In a mid-2014 press release announcing the changes, Pecman pointed out that the realignment
would not reduce the Bureau's size, but would produce greater synergies and collaboration. e
realignment was, he said, "about building a stronger, more fl exible and more adaptive agency."
If the mostly positive reviews of his fi rst year in offi ce are any indication, Pecman stands a good
chance of delivering on that promise. As the fi rst commissioner to have risen to the position
through the Bureau's ranks and the fi rst economist to hold the position – his predecessors were
all lawyers, as are virtually all his counterparts around the world, including the US – he was
bound to come under special scrutiny. But he appears to be passing muster.
"By and large, Pecman is delivering," says Chris Hersh in Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP's
Toronto offi ce. " e Bureau's not perfect under Pecman and it won't be perfect a er his tenure. But
he has made the Bureau more predictable and he's been very accessible to both lawyers and clients."
e emerging environment represents a marked departure from the sometimes chilly relations
that existed with Pecman's predecessor, Melanie Aitken, now a partner in Bennett Jones LLP's
The Competition Bureau has changed its
approach and this is getting positive reviews
from the business community in Canada
BY JULIUS MELNITZER
A SHIFT
