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FederalDid not become law (session ended)42nd Parliament, 1st Session

Bill S-242 explained in plain English

An Act to amend the Competition Act (misrepresentations to public)

Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament
Legislature / Parliament
Parliament of Canada
Session
42nd Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill S-242
Full title
An Act to amend the Competition Act (misrepresentations to public)
Current status
Did not become law (session ended)
Latest event
Bill not proceeded with
Last updated
Sep 20, 2018

Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. MP vote breakdowns appear when the House of Commons publishes a recorded division export for that bill. Senate and House stage details include official debate/sitting links when LEGISinfo publishes them.

Chamber
Parliament of Canada
Current Stage
Bill not proceeded with
Latest Activity
Sep 20, 2018
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

Bill S-242 proposes amendments to the Competition Act to address incomplete disclosure of continuous supply agreement terms and misleading price representations regarding the quantity of products offered.

What It Means

This bill proposes changes to the Competition Act. It aims to make it a reviewable practice for businesses to fail to fully disclose the terms of agreements for continuous product supply. It also intends to address situations where a business advertises a price for a product in a way that suggests a much larger quantity of the product will be supplied at that price than is actually the case. The bill specifies that these changes would come into effect one year after receiving royal assent.

What This Bill Does
  • Amends the Competition Act to include the failure to fully disclose terms of a continuous supply agreement as a reviewable practice.
  • Amends the Competition Act to define as a reviewable practice, representing a product's price in a way that suggests a significantly higher number of products will be supplied for that price.
  • Specifies that these changes will come into effect on the first anniversary of the bill receiving royal assent.
Who Is Affected
  • Businesses that offer products on a continuous supply basis.
  • Businesses that make representations to the public about the price of products.
  • The Competition Bureau and the Competition Tribunal, which administer the Competition Act.
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • Businesses must fully disclose the terms of continuous supply agreements.
  • Businesses must not represent product prices in a way that misleadingly suggests a higher quantity will be supplied.
Important Dates
  • The bill will come into force on the first anniversary of the day it receives royal assent.
Enforcement Or Penalties
  • The bill introduces new conduct that would be subject to review under Part VII.1 of the Competition Act, which can lead to orders from the Competition Tribunal, such as prohibiting the conduct or requiring a public warning, and potentially administrative monetary penalties.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The bill does not specify the exact monetary penalties that may be imposed.
  • The bill does not define what constitutes a 'significantly higher number' of products in the context of price representations.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Competition Act
amends

Adds new provisions that make it a reviewable practice for businesses to fail to provide full disclosure of the terms of an agreement for the continuous supply of a product. This includes terms like duration, price changes, renewals, extensions, or amendments to the agreement. It also defines as a reviewable practice, making a representation to the public about the price of a product in a manner that suggests a significantly higher number of products will be supplied for that price.

Source: Section 1, amending subsection 74.01(1), and Section 2, adding subsection 74.01(4.1)

Competition Act
amends

Modifies the definition of a 'subsequent order' to include references to the new reviewable conduct introduced by this bill.

Source: Section 3, amending subsection 74.1(6)

Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.

Official text

Parliamentary Process

Step 1
First reading
Nov 1, 2017
Completed

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

First reading, Nov 1, 2017
End of stage activity, Nov 1, 2017
Chamber sittings
First reading - Nov 1, 2017

Bill S-242, aimed at amending the Competition Act regarding misrepresentations to the public, was introduced in the Senate and read for the first time.

Step 2
Second reading
Date not listed
No activity

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 1
First reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 2
Second reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Consideration in committee
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 4
Report stage
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 5
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Debate and sitting links point to official parliamentary sources when LEGISinfo publishes them. Any plain-language discussion summaries should be generated from those official texts and reviewed before public display.

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.

Sponsor
Tobias C. Enverga Jr.
Senator | Details not listed in current Senate roster
Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament

No published representative vote breakdown

This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.

Official sources

Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.

How this data is sourced