Counterfactual

In this episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we are joined by Denise Hearn, author, applied researcher, advisor, and resident senior fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and Vass Bednar, the Executive Director, Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University and host of the Globe and Mail podcast Lately to discuss corporate concentration, “kayfabe competition”, the financialization of the economy, and more challenges for competition policy to address in Canada.Denise’s and Vass’s new book “The Big Fix” was released on October 15; more information can be found here: https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/the-big-fix/ .

This is the final episode in the fall half of our Counterfactual season. Make sure you subscribe to Counterfactual wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you don’t miss our upcoming episodes.

In this episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we hear from Matt Chaisson, a Senior Policy Advisor, about his career and responsibilities at the Competition Bureau, particularly relating to the process and experiences around the adoption of recent amendments to the Competition Act. This is the second episode of the new “Better Know the Bureau” series where we “demystify” the Competition Bureau and better get to know the people that make up the Competition Bureau and the work that they do.

In this episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we hear from Anu Lalith-Kumar, a Competition Law Officer in the Mergers Directorate and a part of the Mergers Intelligence and Notification Unit (MINU) about her background and role within the Competition Bureau. This is the first episode of the new “Better Know the Bureau” series where we “demystify” the Competition Bureau and better get to know the people that make up the Competition Bureau.

On June 20, 2024, the Competition Act was amended to require businesses to have testing or substantiation to support certain environmental claims.  The Competition Bureau is currently engaged in a public consultation process to assist it in providing guidance on the interpretation of the new provisions.  Soon, the Competition Tribunal will be able to grant leave to private parties to bring deceptive marketing cases, including in relation to environmental claims, if the Tribunal is satisfied that it would be in the “public interest.”  In our fifteenth episode of the Counterfactual podcast, Julien Beaulieu, who was our guest in a previous episode about environmental claims that aired in April 2023, returns to share his insights on these important developments.

In the fourteenth episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we host a follow-on conversation from the recent CBA Competition Law Spring Conference, Old Port – New Tech: Exploring the Future.  The conference co-chairs provide the key highlights from the panel discussions (Private Access – A New Frontier in Canadian; A fireside chat with Canada’s AI leaders; Abuse of Dominance v. Unfair Competition – What’s the Difference?; and Merger Review - Does competition law and Canada’s foreign investment review enable or hinder innovation?), the luncheon keynote Fireside Chat with Members of the Competition Tribunal/Federal Court of Canada, and ancillary events. 

In March 2024, the Canadian government issued new guidelines concerning foreign investment review of investments into Canadian interactive digital media companies.  In this episode, we dig into the reasons for the government’s concerns with Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, the author of the recent report “Gaming the System, How Extremists Exploit Gaming Sites and What Can be Done to Counter Them”: What is interactive digital media anyway?  How is it susceptible to foreign influence?And, what can companies – and investors – do to address these risks?

In this episode of the Counterfactual podcast, we host a follow-on conversation from the recent CBA Mergers Committee Brownbag session on sector-specific merger reviews (for the transportation, financial services, and telecom industries) that take place in parallel to the Competition Act merger review process. The panelists (from government, private practice, and government relations) provide the key messages from the brownbag session and dive deeper into the key topics. The panelists explore how parallel sector-specific reviews present unique substantive and procedural challenges both for merging parties and government agencies, offering advice to merging parties on their counsel to best prepare for sector-specific reviews.

What makes the Adam F. Fanaki Competition Law Moot so special? Host Charles Tingley speaks with moot organizers Katherine Rydel and Majid Charania to learn more about Canada’s premier competition law event for aspiring jurists. Find out what makes the Fanaki Moot tick and why law students, judges, enforcement officials and private practitioners are so keen to be a part of this treasured fixture on the Canadian competition law calendar.