SoVote

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne

Member of Parliament
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
Liberal

Saint-Maurice—Champlain
Quebec
Voting Attendance: 62%
Expenses Last Quarter: $108,626.98

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Nov/23/23 11:03:03 a.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-56

Mr. Speaker, this is the reality for many Canadians. One thing we have seen across many nations is that the best way to bring affordability and stabilize prices is through competition. Bill C-56 would do something that has not been done in about 37 years in our country. It would reform the Competition Act in ways that are very clear. The bill would give more power to the competition authority, for example, when it does a market study. The last market study was done on groceries. Can we imagine having an authority with no subpoena power? That has not been seen in any other G7 country. Now we are going to fix that. Another thing it would do is ensure that anti-competitive mergers can be blocked. We have seen, time and time again, that we have restricted competition. Lastly, Bill C-56 would remove restrictive covenants that we can currently find in leases. We have seen in the member's riding, as in my own, a grocer in one shopping centre. Today, there are some restrictive clauses in leases that would prevent an independent grocer from going and competing with them. We need to put a stop to that. Canadians watching at home are trusting us to do the right thing for them. The only reason we are here is to serve the people at home. They sent us here to do something. We are committed to doing that.

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Context: House Hansard - 247 - Nov/6/23

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Nov/6/23 2:30:15 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-56 Bill C-352

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and members of the House will have an opportunity to do something for Canadians. I have asked the Leader of the Opposition to do one thing for Canadians, which is something that he does not do very often, but that one thing is to vote for Bill C-56. Canadians will be happy to learn that Bill C-56 would reform competition by giving more power to the competition commissioner, removing the mergers that are harmful to competition and removing the clauses that are hurting competition. We want more competition and lower prices in this country.

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Context: House Hansard - 222 - Sep/21/23

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Sep/21/23 3:04:33 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank my colleague for her question, because she spoke from the heart and shared what all Canadians are feeling. That is exactly what we have done. Today, after convening the CEOs of the major grocery chains to Ottawa to express the frustration of millions of Canadians, we, the Liberal government, introduced an historic bill to tackle inflation and affordability. We will reform the Competition Act, something that has been needed for decades. We will give new powers to the commissioner of competition. We will eliminate mergers that go against the rules of competition, we will tackle deals that prevent small grocery stores from setting up shop—

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Context: House Hansard - 219 - Sep/18/23

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Sep/18/23 2:55:51 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, but maybe he missed part of the morning. That is exactly what we are doing. Last week, we announced that we are carrying out the country's most comprehensive competition law reform to give the head of the Competition Bureau the power to compel the production of information and file court applications. Second, we want to remove the notorious efficiencies defence for mergers that are not in the interest of Canadians. Lastly, we want to tackle collaborations that stifle competition. What we are offering Canadians is a plan for more competition, less consolidation and lower prices.

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