An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act (S.C. 2010, c. 23)
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Assented to 2010-12-15
R.S., c. C-34; R.S., c. 19 (2nd Supp.), s. 19AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPETITION ACT
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 12(1)
74. (1) Subsection 52(1.2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Permitted representations
(1.2) For greater certainty, in this section and in sections 52.01, 52.1, 74.01, 74.011 and 74.02, the making or sending of a representation includes permitting a representation to be made or sent.
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 12(1)
(2) Paragraph 52(2)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(d) made in the course of in-store or door-to-door selling to a person as ultimate user, or by communicating orally by any means of telecommunication to a person as ultimate user, or
75. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 52:
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — sender or subject matter information
52.01 (1) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly send or cause to be sent a false or misleading representation in the sender information or subject matter information of an electronic message.
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — electronic message
(2) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly send or cause to be sent in an electronic message a representation that is false or misleading in a material respect.
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — locator
(3) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly make or cause to be made a false or misleading representation in a locator.
Marginal note:Proof of deception not required
(4) For greater certainty, in establishing that any of subsections (1) to (3) was contravened, it is not necessary to prove that any person was deceived or misled.
Marginal note:General impression to be considered
(5) In a prosecution for a contravention of any of subsections (1) to (3), the general impression conveyed by a representation as well as its literal meaning are to be taken into account.
Marginal note:Offence and punishment
(6) Any person who contravenes any of subsections (1) to (3) is guilty of an offence and
(a) liable on conviction on indictment to a fine in the discretion of the court or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years, or to both; or
(b) liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.
Marginal note:Reviewable conduct
(7) Nothing in Part VII.1 is to be read as excluding the application of this section to the making of a representation that constitutes reviewable conduct within the meaning of that Part.
Marginal note:Where application made under Part VII.1
(8) No proceedings may be commenced under this section against a person on the basis of facts that are the same or substantially the same as the facts on the basis of which an order against that person is sought under Part VII.1.
Marginal note:Interpretation
(9) For the purposes of this section,
(a) an electronic message is considered to have been sent once its transmission has been initiated; and
(b) it is immaterial whether the electronic address to which an electronic message is sent exists or whether an electronic message reaches its intended destination.
Marginal note:Assisting foreign states
52.02 (1) The Commissioner may, for the purpose of assisting an investigation or proceeding in respect of the laws of a foreign state, an international organization of states or an international organization established by the governments of states that address conduct that is substantially similar to conduct prohibited under section 52, 52.01, 52.1, 53, 55 or 55.1,
(a) conduct any investigation that the Commissioner considers necessary to collect relevant information, using any powers that the Commissioner may use under this Act or the Criminal Code to investigate an offence under any of those sections; and
(b) disclose the information to the government of the foreign state or to the international organization, or to any institution of any such government or organization responsible for conducting investigations or initiating proceedings in respect of the laws in respect of which the assistance is being provided, if the government, organization or institution declares in writing that
(i) the use of the information will be restricted to purposes relevant to the investigation or proceeding, and
(ii) the information will be treated in a confidential manner and, except for the purposes mentioned in subparagraph (i), will not be further disclosed without the Commissioner’s express consent.
Marginal note:Mutual assistance
(2) In deciding whether to provide assistance under subsection (1), the Commissioner shall consider whether the government, organization or institution agrees to provide assistance for investigations or proceedings in respect of any of the sections mentioned in subsection (1).
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 13
76. (1) Subsection 52.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Definition of “telemarketing”
52.1 (1) In this section, “telemarketing” means the practice of communicating orally by any means of telecommunication for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product.
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 13
(2) Paragraph 52.1(2)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(a) disclosure is made, in a fair and reasonable manner at the beginning of each communication, of the identity of the person on behalf of whom the communication is made, the nature of the business interest or product being promoted and the purposes of the communication;
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 13
(3) Subsection 52.1(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Time of disclosure
(5) The disclosure of information referred to in paragraph (2)(b) or (c) or (3)(b) or (c) must be made during the course of a communication unless it is established by the accused that the information was disclosed within a reasonable time before the communication, by any means, and the information was not requested during the communication.
77. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 74.01:
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — sender or subject matter information
74.011 (1) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, sends or causes to be sent a false or misleading representation in the sender information or subject matter information of an electronic message.
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — electronic message
(2) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, sends or causes to be sent in an electronic message a representation that is false or misleading in a material respect.
Marginal note:False or misleading representation — locator
(3) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, makes or causes to be made a false or misleading representation in a locator.
Marginal note:General impression to be considered
(4) In proceedings under this section, the general impression conveyed by a representation as well as its literal meaning shall be taken into account in determining whether or not the person who made the representation engaged in the reviewable conduct.
Marginal note:Interpretation
(5) For the purposes of this section,
(a) an electronic message is considered to have been sent once its transmission has been initiated; and
(b) it is immaterial whether the electronic address to which an electronic message is sent exists or whether an electronic message reaches its intended destination.
Marginal note:Assisting foreign states
74.012 (1) The Commissioner may, for the purpose of assisting an investigation or proceeding in respect of the laws of a foreign state, an international organization of states or an international organization established by the governments of states that address conduct that is substantially similar to conduct that is reviewable under section 74.01, 74.011, 74.02, 74.04, 74.05 or 74.06,
(a) conduct any investigation that the Commissioner considers necessary to collect relevant information, using any powers that the Commissioner may use under this Act to investigate conduct that is reviewable under any of those sections; and
(b) disclose the information to the government of the foreign state or to the international organization, or to any institution of any such government or organization responsible for conducting investigations or initiating proceedings in respect of the laws in respect of which the assistance is being provided, if the government, organization or institution declares in writing that
(i) the use of the information will be restricted to purposes relevant to the investigation or proceeding, and
(ii) the information will be treated in a confidential manner and, except for the purposes mentioned in subparagraph (i), will not be further disclosed without the Commissioner’s express consent.
Marginal note:Limitation
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the contravention of the laws of the foreign state has consequences that would be considered penal under Canadian law.
Marginal note:Mutual assistance
(3) In deciding whether to provide assistance under subsection (1), the Commissioner shall consider whether the government, organization or institution agrees to provide assistance for investigations or proceedings in respect of any of the sections mentioned in subsection (1).
Marginal note:1999, c. 2, s. 22
78. Paragraph 74.03(1)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(d) made in the course of in-store or door-to-door selling to a person as ultimate user, or by communicating orally by any means of telecommunication to a person as ultimate user, or
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