Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Competition Law, September, 2007
On June 22, 2007, Bill C-11,An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, received Royal Assent. The Bill will come into force on a date to be proclaimed.
The Bill establishes a new merger review regime under which all transactions involving transportation undertakings that are notifiable under section 114(1) of the Competition Act will also require notification to the Minister of Transportation. In the past, notification to the Minister of Transportation was required only for transactions involving air transportation undertakings. Transactions involving air transportation undertakings will continue to require additional notice to the
Canadian Transportation Agency. The primary features of the new regime are:
- A 42-day period within which the Minister must inform the parties whether the transaction raises issues with respect to the public interest as it relates to national transportation.
- Concurrent inquiries and reports by the Commissioner of Competition and the Minister’s delegate into the potential prevention or lessening of competition and the public interest in national transportation respectively.
- A consultative process between the Minister, Commissioner, and parties in which the parties have an opportunity to propose undertakings or revisions to the transaction in order to deal with the issues identified by the Minister and Commissioner.
- A final decision by the Governor in Council, on the Minister’s recommendation, as to whether the transaction should be approved and to what terms and conditions it should be subject.
- Fines of up to CAD 10,000,000 for corporations and directors or officers convicted of violating the review procedures.
Bill C-11 can be found on the House of Parliament’s Web site: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Do cid=3066116&file=4
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