Natural Resources committee  Let me stress at the outset that we fully understand that this could impact Canadian consumers. But high prices under the Competition Act are not in and of themselves illegal because they need to be linked to an anti-competitive act. It doesn't mean that the bureau doesn't care about, or is not interested in, the broader public policy surrounding the movement of prices in this sector and other sectors, and we advocate, most of the time anyway, for healthier and competitive markets because in many ways they constitute the best protection against high prices.

Natural Resources committee  In the Competition Bureau's view, we always advocate that regulators and policy-makers rely as much as possible on market forces to achieve the benefits of competition. Usually when market forces are insufficient to achieve certain strategic objectives, we try to work with them closely.

Natural Resources committee  In order for the bureau to commence a formal investigation under the Competition Act, we need evidence that a specific section or provision of the act may have been violated. Where the propane industry is concerned, anti-competitive conduct would likely arise from probably three different types of conduct under the act.

Natural Resources committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting us to appear today to discuss the 2014 propane market review which was conducted in collaboration with our colleagues at the National Energy Board. My name, as you said, is Martine Dagenais and I am the associate deputy commissioner responsible for economic analysis and advocacy in the competition promotion branch of the Competition Bureau.

Industry committee  Thank you, Roger. Good morning, Mr. Chair. As my colleague Roger has mentioned, the Competition Bureau has a role in informing regulators and policy-makers on competition matters, and we take this role seriously. In the past two years, the Bureau has made submissions to the CRTC in connection with its wireless code of conduct, as well as its reviews of broadcasting and television services, wireless roaming rates, and wholesale mobile wireless services, among others.