Canada’s federal government clamp down on corporate crime could be hamstringing a bid by the country’s competition authorities to coax individuals and businesses to work within established leniency programmes, specialist lawyers warned within the last few days.

From last week, those convicted of cutting anti-competitive deals or engaging in misleading representations could be hit with prison sentences – rather than community service – under the Competition Act, reports the Canadian Lawyer magazine.

House arrest

Steve Szentesi, of Steve Szentesi Law Corp in Vancouver, commented: ‘On the one side from the Federal Court we have a more stern position on sentencing and the bigger fines, but set against that is the Competition Bureau still wants to do its job and that will be the interesting thing to watch.’
According to the report, judges will lose the ability to sentence individuals to community service or house arrest under a conditional sentence.

Uncertainty

‘There is still some uncertainty as to how the judges will react,’ Denis Gascon, a partner with at the Montreal office of English global law firm Norton Rose, told the magazine. ‘For a judge to impose a jail sentence for a price-fixing or bid-rigging crime in Canada -- it’s never been done. I think the judiciary still has to learn about those offences and develop this tougher attitude that needs to be there if you want to see jail sentences imposed for these kinds of offences, which I don’t think are seen as the typical fraud or like insider trading we see in other areas.’