Lawson Hunter, Paul Boothe, Daniel Barclay, The Hon. Michael Wilson
Monday May 27, 2013 - Toronto Roundtable Event - The State of Play of the ICA: What We've Learned and Where We're Going with the Investment Canada Act
Featuring panelists Lawson Hunter, Counsel, Stikeman Elliott LLP; Paul Boothe, Professor and Director, Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University; and Daniel Barclay, Head of Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions, BMO Capital Markets.
With special moderator The Hon. Michael H. Wilson, Chairman, Barclays Capital Canada Inc.
The Investment Canada Act lays out the rules, guidelines and criteria that the federal government applies in reviewing cross-border M&As. Recent revisions have improved the Act's clarity, yet businesses and investors face uncertainty over which proposed transactions are likely to succeed, raising the prospect of an investment chill. What is the state of play of the ICA? And what's next?
Lawson Hunter is competition, regulatory and government relations counsel at Stikeman Elliott and former head of the Competition and Foreign Investment Group. He was previously Canada's senior civil servant in charge of competition policy and enforcement, and primarily responsible for drafting the federal Competition Act. He previously served as executive vice president and chief corporate officer of Bell Canada and BCE Inc., responsible for overseeing regulatory, governmental relations and corporate affairs.
Mr. Hunter advises corporations on all aspects of federal regulatory law and policy, including competition and antitrust matters, foreign investment legislation, anti-dumping and international trade, telecommunications law and Heritage Canada issues. He is particularly noted for his experience as an adviser on regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Recent mergers include CNOOC/Nexen, Transcontinental/Quad/Graphics, Johnson & Johnson/Synthes, Canadian Tire/Forzani Group and PotashCorp/BHP Billiton.
Paul Boothe was appointed Professor and Director of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University in September 2012. His varied career has included university research and teaching, acting as an independent consultant to Canadian and international organizations, and serving at the deputy minister level in provincial and federal governments.
Dr. Boothe was trained in economics at Western (Hons BA) and UBC (PhD). He was appointed to the faculty of the University of Alberta in 1984. He has authored more than 70 publications in the areas of macroeconomics, international finance, debt management and public finance.
Daniel heads the BMO Capital Markets Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions group with responsibility for all M&A activities in Canada, Europe and Asia. Daniel has over 20 years of investment banking experience in a broad range of industries. Prior to joining BMO CM, Daniel was in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and Scotia Capital. Daniel received a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Calgary.
His recent assignments include: CNOOC’s acquisitions of Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Inc.; Progress Energy’s sale to Petronas; QuadraFNX sale to KGHM Polska Miedz; Cominar REIT on its acquisition of Canmarc REIT; Rogers Communications on its acquisition of Mountain Cable; Canadian Tire’s acquisition of Forzani; Consolidated Thompson Iron Ore’s sale to Cliffs; and Woodbridge on its sale of CTVglobemedia.
Michael Wilson is the Chairman of Barclays Capital Canada Inc. Based in Toronto, Mr. Wilson joined the firm on June 14, 2010 and is currently responsible for managing Barclays Capital’s client relationships in Canada.
Previously, Mr. Wilson was Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America from 2006 to 2009. Prior to taking up his position as Canada’s 22nd Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Wilson was Chairman of UBS Canada, an operating division of UBS AG. Before joining UBS in 2001, Mr. Wilson was responsible for RBC Financial Group's Institutional Asset Management business. He also served as a Vice Chairman of RBC Dominion Securities, responsible for senior client relationships and advice to both Canadian and international companies and governments. Following his service in government, Mr. Wilson launched Michael Wilson International in 1993 to offer corporate clients advice on international trade and related issues.
Mr. Wilson was elected to the House of Commons in 1979. In September 1984, he was appointed Minister of Finance and remained in that position until May 1991. He then became Minister of Industry, Science and Technology and Minister for International Trade.
The C.D. Howe Institute gratefully acknowledges our partner sponsors for this event.
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