Canadian Tire guilty of gas price-fixing

Among 3 companies fined $2 million

Three companies, including Canadian Tire, have pleaded guilty to fixing gasoline prices in southeast- ern Ontario, resulting in combined fines of $2 million, the national Competition Bureau says. Canadian Tire Corp., Pioneer

Energy LP and Mr. Gas pleaded guilty to charges under the Competition Act that they consulted with each other between May and November 2007 to set gas prices in the cities of Kingston and Brockville.

In another recent case, 38 people and 14 companies were charged for fixing gas prices in Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke. Les Petroles Therrien Inc., operating under the PetroT banner; Ultramar; Philippe Gosselin and Associes, operating under a Shell banner; and Les Petroles Cadrin, operating under Sonerco, were four of the main companies involved. They pleaded guilty in 2008 and paid fines of more than $2.7 million.