Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel looking back on 2023 and looking into our crystal ball: the resurrection of unions and strikes, Glencore hostile takeover of Teck Resources and the aftermath /, the Royal Bank of Canada’s acquisition of HSBC Canada, resurgent post-COVID supply chain challenges due to El Nino and Climate Change effects in the Panama Canal and war risks in the Suez Canal and in the Red Sea and the simmering border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. (December 23, 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 and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris, 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 led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner 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. 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 and advising on the introduction of the Province’s pay day lending laws, the administration of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act and regulating the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council.

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 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 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 International Economics from the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel talking about Canada avoiding slipping into a technical recession, interest rates, labour shortages, bank earnings and bank job cuts. (December 2, 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 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 led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.

As a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mark 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. Mark 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. 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 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 the National Post talking about Canada barring a US subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israeli-based generic pharmaceutical company from contracting with the Canadian government until spring 2025 for its role in a “domestic antitrust cartel” in the U.S. (November 27, 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 and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark 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.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada.

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 (including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues) and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement). As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ministry of Research & Innovation, he also advised Ontario on on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of MRI, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

Mark Warner was interviewed on Newstalk1010 in Toronto (Listen from 29:35) about the Canadian government’s options to recover $173 million it gave to soon-to-be defunct medical company Medicago for COVID-19 vaccine development. (November 9, 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 and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark 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.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

[Listen from 29:35]

Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel talking about the proposed exit of the Province of Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried convictions for fraud and the exit of Blackberry‘s CEO, John Chen. (November 4, 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 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.

As a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mark 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. Mark 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. 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.

As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. 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. 

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 Toronto Sun article about the Kroger / Albertsons grocery store merger in the U.S. and how it compares and contrasts with Canadian antitrust / competition law enforcement trends. (September 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 and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris. Mark has assisted a national grocery in connection with an ongoing cartel investigation.

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 (including for door to door water cooler salespeople and the introduction of the Province’s pay day lending laws). 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 International Economics from the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was featured in CTV National News reports about Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s trip to Asia and the prospect for diversifying #trade in the region beyond China. (September 3, 2023) 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. 

CTV National News

CTV News Toronto [Starts at 9:38]

Mark Warner was interviewed by the Financial Post about Canada and the proposed new U.S. rules prohibiting venture capital and private equity firms from pumping more money into Chinese efforts to develop semiconductors and other microelectronics, quantum computers and certain artificial intelligence applications. (August 15, 2023) 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. Mark 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 (including the Ambassador Bridge, Adam’s Mine and St. Mary’s Cement claims) and Investment Canada Act reviews.

As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Mr. Warner 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.

As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Chinese telecommunications firm, 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.

Mark Warner was featured in an article The Logic about Canada and the proposed new U.S. rules prohibiting venture capital and private equity firms from pumping more money into Chinese efforts to develop semiconductors and other microelectronics, quantum computers and certain artificial intelligence applications. (August 10, 2023) 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 (including the Ambassador Bridge, Adam’s Mine and St. Mary’s Cement claims) 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 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 immigration and employment in Canada, Loblaw profits and grocery prices and the rebranding of Twitter. (July 29, 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 and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris. Mark has assisted a national grocery in connection with an ongoing cartel investigation.

Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade (MEDT) and advised Ontario in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations advised on matters including: Cross Border Trade in Services; Temporary Entry and Stay of Natural Persons for Business Purposes; Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications; and Regulatory Cooperation.

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 (including for door to door water cooler salespeople and the introduction of the Province’s pay day lending laws).

As MEDT 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 to digital media and gaming companies, like Ubisoft and Digital Extremes. 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 the digital media and ICT sectors), the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund and establishing the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation. 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.