Mark Warner Was on the CBC Weekend Business Panel Talking About Canada’s Digital Services Tax and Trade Negotiations, Automotive Investments and AI Literacy and Adoption
Mark Warner was featured on the CBC Weekend Business Panel talking about U.S. President Trump suspending trade talks with Canada over Canada going ahead with its Digital Services Tax, conflicting electric vehicle battery investment news in Southwestern Ontario and whether Canada is lagging in artificial intelligence literacy and adoption. (June 28, 2025) 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 was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ministry of Research & Innovation and advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. As MEDT Legal Director, he led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations, advised on trade disputes and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration matters. He also led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network.
As Legal Director for the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation (MRI), 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. Mr. Warner also provided corporate governance legal advice and secretarial support to the OCGC Board of Directors, as well as to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Immigrant Investor Corporation, and other agencies administered by the Ministries. 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.