Hon. Marty Klyne: Honourable senators, I rise to speak at third reading of Bill S-239, the Canadian prosperity act, which I am proud to sponsor. As you recall, this bill aims to help drive lower prices for Canadians by supporting internal trade and more competitive regulations in our country.

Thank you to our Banking Committee for their unanimous support of this legislation, including three friendly amendments to clarify aspects of the bill.

A brief refresher may be helpful. Through modest changes to the Competition Act, Bill S-239 will empower the Competition Bureau to make recommendations to reduce barriers to internal trade in Canada, with accountability from regulators and transparency for the public. This change aims to support efforts to build one Canadian economy. The bureau’s recommendations can also help foster more competitive regulations aimed at lowering prices and improving the quality and selection of goods and services for Canadian consumers.

Examples of regulated sectors in various jurisdictions in Canada include professional services, alcohol sales, government procurement, telecommunications and aviation.

Specifically, the bill makes three proposals: First, there will be an enhanced policy mandate for the independent and expert Competition Bureau to make recommendations to improve internal trade as well as competition within regulated sectors. The bureau already makes recommendations to federal, provincial and other regulators to improve competition for the benefit of consumers.

However, this change would invite the bureau to be bold, particularly around interprovincial barriers, and it would give their work a greater profile. It would also make the work toward internal trade more independent of political actors and circumstances.

Second, the bill would require federal regulators to publicly respond to the bureau’s recommendations within 120 days. For example, this would have required a timely response from the federal government around the Competition Bureau’s 2025 report on improving passenger aviation, which recommended reducing limits on foreign ownership.

Third, the bill would encourage provincial, territorial and municipal governments to respond to the bureau’s recommendations within 120 days. The Commissioner of Competition would publish the response, if received, and if not, they would publish a notice to that effect. For example, this could enhance government accountability around removing interprovincial barriers to the retail sale of alcohol, such as B.C. wine.

These last two proposals would answer a 2023 request of the Competition Bureau that, wherever possible, regulators be required to respond to their recommendations within a reasonable time.

In these three ways, the bill aims to support first ministers’ efforts to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade — a shared priority across our federation for the last two years. Of importance, the bill would support these efforts in a way that respects cooperative federalism without forcing any changes on any jurisdiction.

In the big picture, Bill S-239 is pro-consumer, pro-business legislation that will help boost innovation. Amidst the affordability crisis that we are challenged with, the bill aims to benefit Canadians by helping to drive lower prices, better-quality goods and services, more choices for consumers and greater productivity across many sectors.

To quote Senator Harder, the best argument for this bill bears repeating: lower prices, lower prices, lower prices.

In addition, a 2022 Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper by Trevor Tombe and Ryan Manucha found that the long-term gain to GDP from removing interprovincial barriers could be up to 7.9%, meaning up to $200 billion per year. As well, as former competition commissioner Matthew Boswell has noted, Australia achieved 2.5% GDP growth over a decade by applying a competition lens to regulated sectors across the economy.

Colleagues, this bill can help build prosperity for Canadians all without any additional cost to taxpayers.

I am inspired that this bill has received support from the Competition Bureau; three former Commissioners of Competition: Matthew Boswell, Sheridan Scott and Lawson Hunter; Ryan Manucha of the C.D. Howe Institute; Vass Bednar of the Canadian Shield Institute; Keldon Bester of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project; and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents over 100,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises.

I note as well that this bill was inspired by the work of Senator Harder’s Senate Prosperity Action Group, which included 12 current and former senators. Two key recommendations of our 2021 report were removing barriers to internal trade and improving competition in regulated sectors.

I trust this chamber will view this bill as a chance for the Senate to contribute to Canada’s economic mission at this critical time. Together, we can make a positive difference for the prosperity of our fellow Canadians and our great country. I ask you to please support Bill S-239. Thank you. Hiy kitatamihin.