Ontario Calls On Harper Government To Strengthen Competition Act To Protect Canadian Gasoline Consumers

TORONTO, May 18 /CNW/ - Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan is calling

on the Harper government to strengthen the federal Competition Act so that it

better protects consumers from possible price gouging at the pumps. Duncan is

calling for all party support in the Ontario legislature for a government

motion tabled on Thursday.

     In the past six weeks, gasoline prices have risen by 11 percent in

Ontario, which is still lower than those provinces that regulate the price of

gasoline. On May 15, 2007, according to the national survey by MJ Ervin, the

price in Toronto for gasoline was 106.5, which was lower than the regulated

prices in Halifax, Nova Scotia (114.6), Saint John, New Brunswick (108.7),

Charlottetown, PEI (115.8), St. John's, Newfoundland (119.5) and Montreal,

Quebec (118.4).

     "Our experience with other jurisdictions that regulate the price of

gasoline is that consumers end up paying more," said Duncan. "If we want to

get at the root of the problem, we need a federal Competition Bureau that has

the powers to investigate and prosecute anti-competitive activities to ensure

gas consumers get a fair deal at the pumps," said Duncan.

     The role of the Canadian Competition Bureau is to promote and maintain

fair competition so that Canadians can benefit from competitive prices. Some

of the changes that would improve the effectiveness of the federal Competition

Bureau include:

     -   Expanding the authority of the Commissioner to launch investigations;

     -   Giving the Bureau the power to request that documents be submitted as

         evidence;

     -   Reducing the burden of proof by transferring price setting activities

         from the criminal section to the civil section of the Act, where it

         is more appropriately placed.

     "This is not simply an Ontario problem, it's a national issue," said

Duncan. "The Harper government needs to take this seriously, and ensure that

Canada's competition laws are protecting Canadians."