The Canadian government should rethink a legal defence that allows for some sectors of the economy to operate as a monopoly, argues a report by the C.D. Howe Institute released today.
The report authors identify the following industries which they say benefit unfairly from reduced competition:
- poultry, dairy and eggs;
- retail sales of alcoholic beverages;
- financial services;
- taxis;
- telecommunications;
- broadcasting; and
- professional services, like legal services.
"While many of these regulations are designed to correct market failures, they are inconsistent with federal competition law, which aims to promote economic efficiency by maintaining the integrity of competitive markets," said Robert Mysicka, one of the report authors.
The authors suggest making the following changes:
- clarifying the Competition Act's application to regulated conduct;
- limiting the scope of immunity only to regulation that is minimally impairing to competition; and
- requiring the federal government to assess the competitive effects of all legislation prior to enactment.
