Competition and trade law matters increasingly attract attention from government policy makers around the world. In Canada, significant amendments to the Competition Act and related legislation have been implemented in recent years and consideration of further significant amendments is ongoing. The Canadian Competition Bureau frequently conducts public consultations concerning its policies and guidelines. In addition, other government regulatory entities regularly consider competition policy, both with regard to specific matters and in general public policy consultations.

We consider it essential to be at the forefront of competition law and policy developments both in Canada and internationally. Members of our group are active in such matters with a view to anticipating areas of concern to regulators, drawing on policy developments in presenting submissions or remedy proposals, and assisting clients in making their own policy submissions with regard to proposed amendments or guidelines.

Examples of our group's activities in this regard include

• Members of the group have appeared before Parliamentary committees with regard to proposed amendments to the Competition Act and other competition policy related legislation, including Bill C-23 (on Act to amend the Competition Act and Related Statutes), and Bill C-26 (an Act to amend the Transportation Act);
• Members of the group participate in initiatives of the International Chamber of Commerce;
• A member of the group is Vice-Chair and a member of the Executive Management Board of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD;
• Two members of the group act as non-governmental advisors to the International Competition Network, an organization of international competition agencies designed to promote co-operation and convergence;
• We assist clients in preparing submissions with regard to proposed amendments to the Competition Act and other Bureau policy initiatives (such as draft guidelines);
• We assist trade associations in maintaining ongoing dialogue with the Competition Bureau and addressing industry issues;
• We regularly comment on draft Bureau guidelines, such as the proposed revisions to the Merger Enforcement Guidelines and Bank Merger Enforcement Guidelines, information bulletins/guidelines on abuse of dominance in the grocery and airline industries and the draft Low Pricing Guidelines.