November 5, 2015 – The federal government should create an independent oversight body for Canada’s Competition Bureau to periodically evaluate the Bureau’s performance and help define its strategic objectives. This is the consensus view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its tenth meeting on October 22, 2015.
The Competition Policy Council comprises top-ranked academics and practitioners active in the field of competition policy. The Council, chaired by Benjamin Dachis, Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute, provides analysis of emerging competition policy issues. Professor Edward Iacobucci, Dean at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Competition Policy Scholar at the Institute, advises the Council, along with Grant Bishop, Fellow-in-Residence, and Aaron Jacobs, Researcher, both of the C.D. Howe Institute. The Council, whose members participate in their personal capacities, convenes a neutral forum to test competing visions and to share views on competition policy with practitioners, policymakers and the public.
In addition to the creation of an oversight body, the Council recommended that the Bureau improve public reporting of its activities and their economic impacts. The Bureau’s annual reports should be published more promptly and move beyond activity-based reporting to measuring indicators of the economic benefits from enforcement.
Members of the Council participate in their personal capacities, and the views collectively expressed do not represent those of any individual, institution or client.
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For more information contact: Benjamin Dachis, Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute: 416-865-1904 or kmurphy@cdhowe.org.