ARCHIVED - Registry of the Competition Tribunal - Report

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Minister's Message

The past year has been a challenging one for the Canadian economy, as it has been for the economies of all industrialized countries. The global economic crisis put the fiscal and economic frameworks of all countries to the test. But Canada entered the recession with solid fundamentals - balanced budgets, decreasing debt and taxes, a strong financial sector and robust economic policies. Consequently, Canada is in a comparatively good position to effectively respond to this time of economic challenge.

The Industry Portfolio played a significant role in developing Canada's resiliency and ability to weather the current crisis. Composed of 11 departments, agencies, Crown corporations and quasi-judicial bodies, the Portfolio includes major instruments in the Government of Canada's tool kit for building a competitive economy.

In 2009-09, such measures included continued support for the Registry of the Competition Tribunal, a strictly adjudicative body that operates independently of any government department and hears cases dealing with matters such as mergers, misleading advertising and restrictive trade practices.

In January 2010, the government introduced Canada's Economic Action Plan, which contained stimulative measures to respond to the global recession. Industry Portfolio members played, and will continue to play, a central role in developing and implementing a significant number of these critical initiatives. These measures range from programs to upgrade research infrastructure at Canada's universities and colleges, to helping small businesses bring innovative products to market, to supporting major tourism events, to enhancing community and recreational facilities and other municipal infrastructure in Ontario. For more information, visit the Canada's Economic Action Plan website.

As a country, we are emerging from the recession by creating a climate that encourages innovation, productivity and competitiveness - helping Canadian industry move to the forefront of the global knowledge economy. The Industry Portfolio members, and other federal departments and agencies are working in partnership so that Canada continues to enjoy a high standard of living and a prosperous future.

It is my pleasure to present the Registry of the Competition Tribunal's Performance Report for 2009-09.

The Honourable Tony Clement
Minister of Industry

Section I – Departmental Overview

Raison d’être

Responsibilities

The Registry of the Competition Tribunal is designated a department under the Financial Administration Act. It supports all aspects of the Tribunal’s work and ensures the Tribunal can hold hearings anywhere in Canada, as necessary. Registry headquarters are located in the National Capital Region. Parties to Tribunal cases file applications and documents with the Registry, which also issues documents and orders for all cases brought before the Tribunal. This Departmental Performance Report pertains to the activities of the Registry in support of the Tribunal and its deliberations, and not to Tribunal cases themselves.

Since its creation in 1986, the Tribunal has heard cases relating to mergers, abuse of dominant position, deceptive marketing and various trade practices that have involved key players in several industries. Cases have involved a number of business areas, including pharmacies; furniture stores; importers of cast iron pipes; airline computer reservation systems; oil refining and gasoline retailing; community newspapers; aspartame; waste disposal; car parts; marketing research services; green handling services; weight-loss products; fuel-saving devices; fireplace maintenance products; banking services; poultry supply; and career management services.

Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The chart below illustrates the Registry of the Competition Tribunal's framework for how its program activities contribute to progress toward its strategic outcome.

Process Cases

The Registry of the Competition Tribunal’s main program activity is to process cases by providing the public with efficient access to case documents and decisions, as well as with efficient hearing support services.

The Tribunal hears cases and the Registry manages the material for the cases heard by the Tribunal under Part VII.1 (deceptive marketing practices) and Part VIII (restrictive trade practices) of the Competition Act.

Internal Services

Internal Services is an umbrella term for activities under the Registry’s administration that meet program needs and other corporate obligations. These activities are: management and oversight services; communications services; legal services; human resources management services; financial management services; information management services; information technology services; real property services; material services; acquisition services; and travel and other administrative services.

Summary of Performance

2009-10 Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
$2,012	$2,153	$1,368

2009-10 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
14 FTEs	10.9 FTEs	3.1 FTEs

Strategic Outcome 1: Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

Performance Indicators	Targets	2009-10 Performance
Client level of satisfaction regarding quality of service	80% or more clients are satisfied with service received from the Registry	Our measure of client satisfaction is usually based on feedback obtained from parties to cases heard by the Tribunal. In 2009–10, numerous hearings took place during the year that all related to the same case. That case will be completed in 2010–11. Informal feedback received has been really positive and no negative feedback was received through the website.
Tribunal members' level of satisfaction regarding quality of service	80% or more of Tribunal members are satisfied with service received from the Registry	The Tribunal members' level of satisfaction reached 90% in 2009-10. Their feedback was obtained on the quality of services provided by the Registry throughout a hearing life cycle, on organization of the members' continuous learning program, and to a lesser extent, on various ad hoc services provided to members.

($ thousands)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-09				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Process Cases	$1,221	$1,638	$1,641	$1,779	$882	This program activity links to the Economic Affairs sector of activity of the Government of Canada, particularly the outcome area of a fair and secure marketplace.
Internal Services1	$470	$374	$371	$374	$486
Total	$1,691	$2,012	$2,012	$2,153	$1,368

¹ Commencing in the 2009–10 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome(s)

Operational Priorities	Type	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome(s)
Review the e-filing services offered to the parties	New	Met all The method of communication of the parties, the volume of transactions and the cost of the current e-filing system was reviewed. An implementation schedule was developed to upgrade the current system to take advantage of improved technology to meet the demands of the parties.	Open, fair, transparent and expdeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The Tribunal’s rules of procedure stipulate that the parties must file their documents electronically. Electronic filing of documents is a prerequisite to electronic hearings. The Registry must provide the parties with up-to-date technology to enable them to benefit from expeditious processing of their documents.
Implement digital recording for Tribunal hearings	New	Met all The digital recording system is now operational. Some training was provided to staff and a new contract was issued with a court reporting company to use the Registry’s technology to prepare transcriptions. To complete the training, the system will have to be used in parallel with a court reporting company for a few hearings.	Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. This initiative contributes to efficient access to case records as well as efficient hearing support services for the Tribunal and the parties.
Develop an Information Technology Asset Management Lifecycle	New	Met all A multi-year asset replacement plan was developed to ensure the Registry can offer reliable and secure technology to the parties while ensuring enough resources were allocated to the processing of cases.	Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The parties have the technology to file documents electronically and perform extensive research using the Internet. They depend heavily on up-to-date technology for their day-to-day operations.

Risk Analysis

The Registry of the Competition Tribunal has a major planning challenge in that the Tribunal can only react to external demands. Its sole function is hearing references and applications and issuing orders, and the number of applications brought before the Tribunal depends on the enforcement policy adopted by the Commissioner of Competition and the number of applications filed by individuals or companies under the private access provisions of the Act.

The demand for services from the Registry has remained relatively stable. As a result of the Competition Policy Review Panel Report released in June 2008, the 2009 federal budget increased the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. Some of the major changes include the introduction of a new civil provision to address price maintenance practices that have an adverse effect on competition. The legislation also includes a dual-track approach to deal with agreements between competitors. Certain changes brought forward only became effective in March 2010 therefore the Tribunal’s broader jurisdiction did not increase the number of new cases filed during the year.

Registry staff turnover has been minimal during the fiscal year compared with previous years. The Registry continued to provide training to some employees identified as back-ups to key positions to ensure they have the knowledge and abilities required to fulfill additional responsibilities if and when required. A partnership that had been established with the Registry of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal was extended to maximize the use of resources and other development opportunities were provided to staff in an effort to retain those in key positions.

Expenditure Profile

 

The lower than expected utilization of financial resources in 2009-10 resulted from the change in jurisdiction of the Tribunal that became effective in March 2010.  There was not enough time in the remaining weeks of the fiscal year for cases to be filed and processed under the new jurisdiction.

Voted and Statutory Items
($ thousands)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2007-08 Actual Spending	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-10 Main Estimates	2009-10 Actual Spending
1	Operating expenditures	$1,537	$1,566	$1,861	$1,232
(s)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	$161	$125	$151	$136
Total		$1,698	$1,691	$2,012	$1,368

Actual spending for 2009-10 is 19% lower than 2008-09 because the new jurisdiction of the Tribunal only became effective in March 2010, towards the end of the fiscal year.

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