The Competition Act was recently amended without debate by the Harper Conservatives (in Bill C-10) to speed up mergers. The result may be a rushed decision in the case of Suncor’s takeover of Petro-Canada. The recently released Competition Bureau decision was heralded by the Competition Commissioner as pro-competition.  This is the same acting commissioner who once represented Superior Propane when it won approval for a merger that created a single dominant player in the propane industry. This was achieved by using the efficiencies defense loophole in the same mergers section of our weak Competition Act.

This same commissioner has now given a green light to the massive Suncor/Petro-Can merger that could have been good news for independents, but in reality may see Petro-Canada’s supply chain and outlets sold in a behind the scenes deal with Ultramar, another major player that has used the weak Competition Act to undermine independent gasoline retailers.

You and I will continue to pay dearly for yet another example of Canada’s limp wristed and anemic Competition Act.

In the 80’s the Competition Act was amended – at the behest of the oil industry – to make it far easier for oil companies to merge.  The result is a severely diminished state of competition at the refining level in Canada.  This lack of competition is the primary reason we pay such high prices for fuel at the pumps. 

The government needs to amend the Competition Act and fix these problems.  Most importantly, the “Efficiency Defence” clause needs to be scrapped.

Good luck getting that out of this government however!

As mentioned in the last post the Energy Infromation Administration’s weekly reports can be found here: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html.

The report is released at 1:00 PM EST every Wednesday.