Author Archives: Mark Warner

Mark Warner was interviewed on Newstalk1010 in Toronto about the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister to Canada and what it means for trade relations with Japan, China and the wider Asia-Pacific region. (January 13, 2023) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade advising on trade negotiations and dispute settlement and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mr. Warner also provided advice to the Government of Ontario on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings. He also previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate where he participated in the negotiations of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Competition Policy and the Working Group on Trade and Investment.

Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel talking about inflation, interest rates and housing costs, pumping the breaks on the latest fusion energy breakthrough and the prospects for the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot replacing humans in professional services. (December 17, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris . Mark is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and negotiated and drafted grant and loan agreements to leading global companies for jobs, investment, research and manufacturing projects in Ontario, including for: clean energy (solar and wind) manufacturing and hybrid and clean vehicle technologies. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (focused in part on clean energy technologies), the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation.

As a former Acting Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, Mark was responsible for prosecutions under the provincial consumer protection laws and regulations. Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

Mark is a past Chair of the International and Economics Committees of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law as well as a member of the Section’s Task Forces on Competition Policy and NAFTA and Antitrust in the Global Economy. In addition to being a lawyer, Mr. Warner has a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was featured in a Canadian Press article about whether supply-chain turbulence is here to stay and what Canada is doing about it. (December 14, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate, and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies. 

Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei.

Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark Warner was featured in a Canadian Press story on whether Canada’s push for trade diversification with Southeast Asia raises human-rights questions. (December 10, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark Warner was featured in Globe and Mail and Dow Jones Newswire (below) articles about the proposed changes to the Investment Canada Act to update the national security review process for foreign investments. (December 7, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade and investment policy and negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate, and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies. 

Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters and Investment Canada Act reviews. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Chinese telecommunications firm, Huawei.

Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark Warner was featured in a Global News National story about Canadian-made parts in Iranian drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine, despite a plethora of export sanctions and trade restrictions meant to prevent this. (December 5, 2022) Mark, a Canadian and U.S. attorney, is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and has worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate, including advising Eastern European countries on competition policy accession requirements in the context of the EC PHARE Program and other countries on European Partnership Agreements, and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mark advises on foreign corrupt practices, foreign asset controls, anti-money laundering and export controls issues, including assisting various multinational firms in developing compliance programs in these areas. Mark has also participated in an international arbitration relating to the expropriation of the assets of a U.S.-based oil company in Libya and related issues under applicable sanctions and foreign asset control rules. Mark provides international trade and investment law advice to natural resources clients on trade agreements, trade remedies, sanctions, export and import controls, anti-corruption, corporate social responsibility and compliance issues as a colleague at Pilot Law which provides comprehensive legal services for developing resource businesses in the mining, energy and renewables sectors.

Mark is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Mark Warner was interviewed on Newstalk1010 in Toronto about alleged Chinese police stations in Canada, public-private infrastructure projects and possible U.S. trade challenges to the proposed digital services tax and pending digital streaming & online news sharing legislation. (December 1, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement). As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

As Legal Director of Ontario’s Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation. Mark chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto in 2015. As a former Acting Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, Mark was responsible for prosecutions under the provincial consumer protection laws and regulations. Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

Mark Warner was interviewed by the Financial Post about Canada’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy and implications for trade with China and regional supply chains including the United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement. (December 1, 2022) Mark is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel talking about Hockey Canada losing major sponsorships, OPEC oil production cuts, credit cards and new consumer fees, and Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter again. (October 8, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris. Mark is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation.  Mr. Warner was responsible for establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC) and providing corporate governance legal advice and secretarial support to its Board of Directors, as well as to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Immigrant Investor Corporation (OIIC), and other agencies administered by the Ministries. 

Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund, the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation. Mark chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto in 2015. As a former Acting Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, Mark was responsible for prosecutions under the provincial consumer protection laws and regulations. Mark’s experience with online technologies and e-commerce includes: participating in OECD-wide policy work on laws and regulations affecting e-commerce, acting as Chair, ICC Competition Commission Working Party on E-Commerce and Competition Policy, serving as an original ICANN domain name dispute resolution arbitrator for eResolution and WIPO and as Rapporteur of the Hague Conference on Private International Law Commission on Jurisdiction for Torts in Electronic Commerce.

Mark is a past Chair of the International and Economics Committees of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law as well as a member of the Section’s Task Forces on Competition Policy and NAFTA and Antitrust in the Global Economy. In addition to being a lawyer, Mr. Warner has a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was invited to attend the first speech of Dr. Lisa D. Cook, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as governor at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and participated in the Q&A (at 47:00). (October 6, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris and participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies. Mark is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation.  

Mark is a past Chair of the International and Economics Committees of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law as well as a member of the Section’s Task Forces on Competition Policy and NAFTA and Antitrust in the Global Economy. In addition to being a lawyer, Mr. Warner has a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Toronto and was a Research Assistant to the late Edward M. Graham and J. David Richardson on a PIIE project on Global Competition Policies while pursuing his LLM in International & Comparative Law at Georgetown University Law Center.