Bureau Loses St. John's Taxi Conspiracy Case - At Preliminary Hearing
In a ruling of the Newfoundland Provincial Court dated September 18, 2006, D. Orr Provincial Court Judge dismissed, after a preliminary hearing, charges laid under Section 45 of the Competition Act (Canada) against six companies and seven individuals in respect of an agreement among them to refuse to bid on certain contracts for exclusive supply rights at the St. John's Airport and other St. John's locations (R. v. Budgens Taxi, [2006] N.J. No. 250). The Judge found that the Crown's economic expert failed to provide any evidence as to the absolute size of the relevant market, therefore making it impossible to determine the impact of the agreement on competition. While stating that the regulated conduct defence could not be considered at the stage of the preliminary inquiry, he also stated that the accused "were acting within the confines of a regulated industry", and had brought the issue to the attention of the appropriate regulatory body, and could not be said to have "unduly" impacted the market.
