ACA representatives address C-19 Standing Committee
By Adnews Staff
Two representatives from the Association of Canadian Advertisers, policy and research vice-president Robert Reaume and legal councel James Musgrove, appeared before a House of Commons Standing Committee in Ottawa yesterday to voice the concerns of the ad industry regarding several proposed changes to the Competition Act. Bill C-19 proposes, among other amendments, an increase in the maximum administrative monetary penalties for deceptive marketing practices for corporations from $100,000 to $10 million, with the provision for a $15 million penalty for a second transgression. Reaume and Musgrove argued that this penalty is out of proportion with the nature of marketing practices which fall under this part of the law, maintaining that non-criminal reviewable conduct should not be subject such drastic fines. They suggested that such high penalties would result in a chill on Canadian advertising activity. Companies would not be willing to engage in comparative advertising, leading to a decline in competition, they said. They also argued that strong laws to prevent deceptive advertising and fraud already exist elsewhere in the Competition Act.