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Tony Clement
Minister of Industry
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 headquarter is 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 Report on Plans and Priorities 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 and various trade practices that have involved key players in several industries. Cases have involved a number of business arenas, 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 and fuel saving devices.
The chart below illustrates the Registry of the Competition Tribunal’s framework for how its program activities contribute to progress toward its strategic outcome.
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
---|---|---|
$2,012 | $2,012 | $2,012 |
The financial resources table provides a summary of the total planned spending for the Registry of the Competition Tribunal for the next three fiscal years.
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
---|---|---|
14 | 14 | 14 |
The human resources table above provides a summary of the total planned human resources for the Registry of the Competition Tribunal for the next three fiscal years.
Performance Indicators | Targets |
---|---|
Client level of satisfaction regarding quality of service. | 80% satisfaction. |
Tribunal members’ level of satisfaction regarding quality of service. | 80% satisfaction. |
Program Activity | Forecast Spending 2008-09 ($ Thousands) |
Planned Spending ($ Thousands) |
Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | |||
Process Cases | $1,328 | $1,641 | $1,641 | $1,641 | A fair and secure marketplace |
Internal Services | $371 | $371 | $371 | $371 | |
Total | $1,699 | $2,012 | $2,012 | $2,012 | |
Total Planned Spending | $2,012 | $2,012 | $2,012 |
Operational Priorities | Type | Links to Strategic Outcome(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Review the e-filing services offered to the parties | New | Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. | Why is this a priority? Electronic filing of documents is a prerequisite to electronic hearings. Electronic hearings expedite the hearing process. Plans for meeting this priority? The Registry will review the current system, identify improvements and develop an implementation schedule |
Implement digital recording for Tribunal hearings | New | Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction | Why is this a priority? Digital recording technology provides opportunities to easily play back audio files therefore eliminating the waiting period for transcriptions. Plans for meeting this priority? The Registry will test the selected technology in parallel with the existing system and develop an implementation plan. |
Develop an Information Technology Asset Management Lifecycle | New | Open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction | Why is this a priority? The public depends heavily on a reliable, up-to-date and secure technology platform to file documents with the Tribunal. Plans for meeting this priority? The Registry will evaluate the current equipment, identify the requirements of the public and parties, and invest in bridging the gap between the two. |
The Registry of the Competition Tribunal has an ongoing major planning challenge in that the Tribunal's sole function is to respond to the matters referred to it. As such, the Registry’s activities are driven by external demands that it can only react to rather than plan for. The number of applications brought to the Tribunal depends on the enforcement policy adopted by the Competition Bureau and the number of applications filed by individuals or companies under the private access provisions of the Competition Act. .
The main challenge of the Registry is to manage its resources to continue to deliver on mandate related activities. In the recent years, the Registry has either exceeded its budget or was in a break-even situation. Even if the demand for Registry services has remained relatively stable, the Registry has had to manage ongoing increases in operating costs, such as the per diem for members, travel charges, information technology upgrades and translation costs, while its funding budget has remained stable.
In July 2007, the Competition Policy Review Panel was mandated to review Canada’s competition and foreign investment policies, and recommend ways to improve Canada’s productivity and competitiveness. The Review Panel’s report, released in June 2008, puts forward a number of policy recommendations, some of which could increase the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. It is too early to assess what impact these recommendations could have on the workload of the Tribunal. The Registry will monitor these potential changes closely.
Another potential risk is the need for the Registry to manage its human resource requirements so as to deliver on mandate-related and support activities. As a micro-agency, the Registry can offer only limited development opportunities within its organization and so has experienced a high turnover in recent years.
The Registry’s reference level has not increased since the Tribunal’s inception in 1986, even when the jurisdiction of the Tribunal was expanded in 2002. Expenditures have hovered around the budget of $1,699,000. The spending trend will be expected to increase slightly should the jurisdiction of the Tribunal be expanded as proposed in Bill C-10. The Registry cannot forecast the Tribunal’s workload; it can only react and process cases brought forth by Canadian enterprises and the Competition Bureau.
Vote # or Statutory Item (S) | Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording | 2008-09 Main Estimates |
2009-10 Main Estimates |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Operating expenditures | $1,546 | $1,861 |
(S) | Contributions to employee benefit plans | $153 | $151 |
Total | $1,699 | $2,012 |