R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.)

[1986, c. 26, assented to 17th June, 1986]

An Act to establish the Competition Tribunal and to amend the Combines Investigation Act and the Bank Act and other Acts in consequence thereof

1. This Part may be cited as the Competition Tribunal Act.

2. In this Part,

“judicial member” means a member of the Tribunal appointed under paragraph 3(2)(a);

“lay member” means a member of the Tribunal appointed under paragraph 3(2)(b);

“Minister” means the Minister of Industry;

“Tribunal” means the Competition Tribunal established by subsection 3(1).

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 2; 1992, c. 1, s. 145(F); 1995, c. 1, s. 62.

3. (1) There is hereby established a tribunal to be known as the Competition Tribunal.

(2) The Tribunal shall consist of

(a) not more than six members to be appointed from among the judges of the Federal Court by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice; and

(b) not more than eight other members to be appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister.

(3) The Governor in Council may establish an advisory council to advise the Minister with respect to appointments of lay members, which council is to be composed of not more than ten members who are knowledgeable in economics, industry, commerce or public affairs and may include, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, individuals chosen from business communities, the legal community, consumer groups and labour.

(4) The Minister shall consult with any advisory council established under subsection (3) before making a recommendation with respect to the appointment of a lay member.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 3; 2002, c. 8, ss. 183, 198, c. 16, s. 16.

4. (1) The Governor in Council shall designate one of the judicial members to be Chairman of the Tribunal.

(2) The Chairman has supervision over and direction of the work of the Tribunal including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, the allocation of the work of the members thereof.

(3) Where the office of Chairman is vacant, or the Chairman is absent from Canada or is for any reason unable to act, the powers of the Chairman shall be exercised and the duties performed by the senior judicial member who is in Canada and is able and willing to act.

5. (1) Each judicial member shall be appointed for a term not exceeding seven years and holds office so long as he remains a judge of the Federal Court.

(2) Each lay member shall be appointed for a term not exceeding seven years and holds office during good behavior but may be removed by the Governor in Council for cause.

(3) A member of the Tribunal, on the expiration of a first or any subsequent term of office, is eligible to be re-appointed for a further term.

(4) A person may continue to act as a member of the Tribunal after the expiration of his term of appointment in respect of any matter in which he became engaged during the term of his appointment.

(5) In the event of the absence or incapacity of a member of the Tribunal, the Governor in Council may appoint a temporary substitute member for such period of time as the Governor in Council prescribes.

6. (1) Each lay member shall be paid such remuneration as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

(2) Each member of the Tribunal is entitled to be paid the travel allowances that a judge is entitled to be paid under the Judges Act.

(3) Each lay member is deemed to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 6; 2003, c. 22, s. 224(E).

7. (1) Every member of the Tribunal shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take an oath that he will duly and faithfully, and to the best of his skill and knowledge, execute the powers and trusts reposed in him as a member of the Tribunal.

(2) The oath referred to in subsection (1) shall be administered to the Chairman of the Tribunal before the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, and to the other members by the Chairman, or in his absence or incapacity, by any other member.

8. (1) The Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and dispose of all applications made under Part VII.1 or VIII of the Competition Act and any related matters, as well as any matter under Part IX of that Act that is the subject of a reference under subsection 124.2(2) of that Act.

(2) The Tribunal has, with respect to the attendance, swearing and examination of witnesses, the production and inspection of documents, the enforcement of its orders and other matters necessary or proper for the due exercise of its jurisdiction, all such powers, rights and privileges as are vested in a superior court of record.

(3) No person shall be punished for contempt of the Tribunal unless a judicial member is of the opinion that the finding of contempt and the punishment are appropriate in the circumstances.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 8; 1999, c. 2, s. 41; 2002, c. 16, s. 16.1.

8.1 (1) The Tribunal may award costs of proceedings before it in respect of reviewable matters under Parts VII.1 and VIII of the Competition Act on a final or interim basis, in accordance with the provisions governing costs in the Federal Court Rules, 1998.

(2) The Tribunal may direct by whom and to whom any costs are to be paid and by whom they are to be taxed and allowed.

(3) The Tribunal may award costs against Her Majesty in right of Canada.

(4) Costs adjudged to Her Majesty in right of Canada shall not be disallowed or reduced on taxation by reason only that counsel who earned the costs, or in respect of whose services the costs are charged, was a salaried officer of Her Majesty in right of Canada performing those services in the discharge of that counsel’s duty and remunerated for those services by salary, or for that or any other reason was not entitled to recover any costs from Her Majesty in right of Canada in respect of the services so rendered.

(5) Any money or costs awarded to Her Majesty in right of Canada in a proceeding in respect of which this section applies shall be paid to the Receiver General.

2002, c. 16, s. 17.

9. (1) The Tribunal is a court of record and shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(2) All proceedings before the Tribunal shall be dealt with as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and considerations of fairness permit.

(3) Any person may, with leave of the Tribunal, intervene in any proceedings before the Tribunal, other than proceedings under Part VII.1 of the Competition Act, to make representations relevant to those proceedings in respect of any matter that affects that person.

(4) On a motion from a party to an application made under Part VII.1 or VIII of the Competition Act, a judicial member may hear and determine the application in a summary way, in accordance with any rules on summary dispositions.

(5) The judicial member may dismiss the application in whole or in part if the member finds that there is no genuine basis for it. The member may allow the application in whole or in part if satisfied that there is no genuine basis for the response to it.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 9; 1999, c. 2, s. 42; 2002, c. 16, s. 18.

10. (1) Subject to section 11, every application to the Tribunal shall be heard before not less than three or more than five members sitting together, at least one of whom is a judicial member and at least one of whom is a lay member.

(2) The Chairman shall designate a judicial member to preside at any hearing or, if the Chairman is present at a hearing, may preside himself.

(3) No member shall take part in any matter before the Tribunal in which the member has a direct or indirect financial interest.

11. (1) The Chairman of the Tribunal, sitting alone, or a judicial member designated by the Chairman, sitting alone, may hear and dispose of applications under subsection 4.1(2) or (4) or 100(1), section 103.1 or 103.3 or subsection 104(1) or 104.1(7) of the Competition Act and any related matters.

(2) Applications for orders under Part VII.1 of the Competition Act and any related matters shall be heard and disposed of by the Chairman of the Tribunal, sitting alone, or by a judicial member designated by the Chairman, sitting alone.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 11; 1999, c. 2, s. 43; 2000, c. 15, s. 16; 2002, c. 16, s. 19.

12. (1) In any proceedings before the Tribunal,

(a) questions of law shall be determined only by the judicial members sitting in those proceedings; and

(b) questions of fact or mixed law and fact shall be determined by all the members sitting in those proceedings.

(2) In any proceedings before the Tribunal,

(a) in the event of a difference of opinion among the members determining any question, the opinion of the majority shall prevail; and

(b) in the event of an equally divided opinion among the members determining any question, the presiding member may determine the question.

(3) Where a member of the Tribunal is unable to take part in the giving of judgment in any proceedings or has died, the other members sitting in those proceedings may, whether or not they include a judicial member or a lay member, give judgment and, for that purpose, shall be deemed to constitute the Tribunal.

13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), an appeal lies to the Federal Court of Appeal from any decision or order, whether final, interlocutory or interim, of the Tribunal as if it were a judgment of the Federal Court.

(2) An appeal on a question of fact lies under subsection (1) only with the leave of the Federal Court of Appeal.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 13; 2002, c. 8, s. 130.

14. (1) There shall be a Registry of the Tribunal consisting of an office in the National Capital Region described in the schedule to the National Capital Act.

(2) Such officers, clerks and employees as are required for the proper conduct of the work of the Tribunal shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

(3) The employees of the Tribunal shall be organized and the offices shall be operated in such manner as may be provided by the rules.

15. The Tribunal may sit at such times and at such places throughout Canada as it considers necessary or desirable for the proper conduct of its business.

16. (1) Subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, the Tribunal may make general rules that are not inconsistent with this Part or the Competition Act

(a) for regulating the practice and procedure of the Tribunal; and

(b) for carrying out the work of the Tribunal, the management of its internal affairs and the duties of its officers and employees.

(2) No rule made under this section has effect until it has been published in the Canada Gazette.

(3) A copy of every rule made under this section shall be laid before Parliament on any of the first fifteen days after the making thereof that either House of Parliament is sitting.

(4) Five members of the Tribunal, at least three of whom are judicial members, constitute a quorum of the Tribunal for the purpose of making rules under this section.

17. Where the Tribunal proposes to make any rule under section 16, it

(a) shall give notice of the proposal by publishing it in the Canada Gazette and shall, in the notice, invite any interested person to make representations to it in writing with respect thereto within sixty days after the day of the publication; and

(b) may, after the expiration of the sixty days referred to in paragraph (a) and subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, implement the proposal either as originally published or as revised in such manner as the Tribunal deems advisable having regard to any representations so made to it.

18. to 45. [Amendments]

46. [Amendments]

47. and 48. [Amendments]

49. [Amendment]

50. [Amendment]

51. [Amendments]

52. [Amendments]

53. [Amendment]

54. [Amendments]

55. to 58. [Amendments]

59. (1) Wherever in any Act of Parliament a reference is made to section 114 of the Canada Corporations Act, chapter C-32 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, in respect of a company or corporation, sections 229 to 234, 236 to 240 and 242 of the Canada Business Corporations Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of that company or corporation.

(2) In construing the sections of the Canada Business Corporations Act made applicable to a company or corporation under this section, in the case of a company, or corporation, incorporated without share capital, “security holder”, or “registered holder or beneficial owner” in relation to a security, means a member of the company or corporation.

(3) A Director or Deputy Director appointed under section 260 of the Canada Business Corporations Act may, for the purpose of giving effect to this section with respect to the application of sections 229 to 234, 236 to 240 and 242 of that Act, exercise the powers and perform the functions and duties of the Director under those sections.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 59; 1994, c. 24, s. 34(F).

60. (1) [Repealed, SI/91-111]

(2) For the purposes of any inquiry or other matter or proceeding referred to in subsection (1), the Combines Investigation Act and any other Act of Parliament amended by this Act shall be read as if this Act had not come into force.

(3) While the members continue in office in accordance with this section, they may, if so appointed, hold office as members of the Competition Tribunal, but any person who, pursuant to this subsection, holds more than one office is entitled to be remunerated only in respect of one of those offices.

(4) The Governor in Council may, by proclamation, repeal subsection (1) when the Governor in Council is satisfied that the Commission no longer has any inquiry or other matter or proceeding referred to in subsection (1) before it and that the Commission has reported to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs in respect of all inquiries before it.

R.S., 1985, c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 60; SI/91-111.

61. For the purposes of the Competition Act, as amended by this Act, an order of the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission under Part V, as it read immediately prior to the coming into force of section 29 of this Act, or pursuant to subsection 60(1) shall be deemed to be an order of the Competition Tribunal under the Competition Act.

*62. This Act or any provision thereof, or any provision of the Combines Investigation Act as amended or enacted by this Act, shall come into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.

* [Note: Act, except sections 108 to 123, as enacted by section 45, in force June 19, 1986, see SI/86-109; sections 108 to 123, as enacted by section 45, in force July 15, 1987, see SI/87-139.]