Category Archives: Speeches and Conference Panels

Mark wrote was invited to speak to the Ontario Public Buyers Association (OPBA) Annual Conference about the Canadian Competition Bureau‘s bid-rigging detection and enforcement efforts. (September 29, 2017) Competition and public procurement is the theme of the 2017 International Competition Network (ICN) Cartel Workshop that the Bureau is hosting October 4 – 6. Mark Warner is a Canadian and American competition / antitrust lawyer and is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services and in that role was responsible for prosecutions under the Consumer Protection Act (Ontario).  As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, he advised Ontario on procurement issues in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. In addition, Mr. Warner  previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate and has held several leadership positions in the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law.

Mark Warner was invited to participate in a Guest Speaker Forum at the University of Waterloo about the implications of the “Trump Economy” and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for Canada. (July 8, 2017) Mr. Warner 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. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration, and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. He 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 participated in a panel on Barriers to Growth in the iPolitics Live International Trade Forum in Ottawa. (June 20, 2017) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC, 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. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations, on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement, on several North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 11 Investor-State arbitrations and led the Province’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. He 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.

https://www.thepanelonline.com/canada-and-the-future-of-free-trade-1Mark Warner participated in a Panel discussion on Canada and the Future of Free Trade at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. (May 15, 2017) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC, 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. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations, on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement, on several North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 11 Investor-State arbitrations and led the Province’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. He 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 participated in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto on the future of mega-regional trade agreements in light of the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), uncertainty over the final ratification and application of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and pending renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (March 7, 2017) Mr. Warner 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. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration, and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. He 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 participated in a Canadian Friends of the London School of Economics and Political Science (CFLSE) panel discussion on the implications for Canada from Brexit, the Canada-European Union Trade Agreement (CETA) and trade policy in the wake of the election of Donald Trump in the United States. (November 30, 2016) Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario in the CETA negotiations and on several NAFTA Chapter 11 Investor-State arbitrations. Mr. Warner, a Canadian and U.S. lawyer, has  previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. As a partner in a leading boutique law firm in Brussels specializing in European and international law, Mr. Warner negotiated with European Commission Competition officials the first ever notified merger of companies from accession countries (Polish and Czech oil companies) following EU expansion in 2004.

Mark Warner spoke on international sales agreements and business formation in a Kyiv Chamber of Commerce & Industry Workshop on Accessing the Canadian Market sponsored by Sergii Koziakov & Partners. (October 26, 2016) The Workshop was aimed at exploring opportunities for Ukrainian businesses to take advantage of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) signed on July 11, 2016 and which will go through the domestic legislative processes to ratify and implement the Agreement. Mr. Warner, a Canadian and U.S. lawyer, previously practiced trade and competition law in Brussels and as Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade advised Ontario in the Canada and European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations. Mr. Warner has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously 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.

Mark Warner participated in an International Trade Panel at the 2016 Asian Canadian Law Students Conference. (February 20, 2016) Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. 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 invited to participate in the Canadian Competition Bureau Workshop on emerging competition issues in Ottawa on January 19th. The workshop featured speakers from business, academia, the legal community, and government, both domestic and international. Participants discussed disruptive new business models, the implications for competition policy, and how best to incorporate non-price effects into competition assessment.

Mark chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto on December 2nd. 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 chaired an Insight Research Canadian Sharing Economy Symposium in Toronto on December 2nd. The morning sessions focused on: understanding the Sharing Economy; Trust, Licensing and reputation; and Competition, Consumer Protection and Regulation. The afternoon sessions focused on: Labour; Insurance; Taxation; and Municipal Planning and By-law issues.

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.