Canada: Lawyers adapt as Competition Bureau tightens grip

Reports say lawyers have been forced to adapt as they recognize significant changes within Canada’s competition policy since the Competition Bureau’s current Commissioner John Pecman was first appointed last June.

Pecman has been serving as interim commissioner since the resignation of former commissioner Melanie Aitken.

According to reports, since Pecman has taken the post, he has reintroduced the Bureau’s powers to subpoena individuals as part of antitrust investigations, meaning people must be examined under oath or hand over documentation relating to the case.

According to reports, lawyers are working to adapt to the Bureau’s tendency to resurrect those powers.

Paul Collins, head of Stikeman Elliott’s competition group, described the Bureau’s crackdowns as “an old school kind of enforcement.” Stikeman lawyer and former competition commissioner Lawson Hunter told reporters that the Bureau’s subpoena powers fell out of use in the early 1990s.

But they have returned with Pecman, who is the first non-lawyer to head the Bureau. He has been at the regulator for nearly three decades.

Full Content: Financial Post

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