Why Canadians Should Pay Attention to the Competition Policy Review
Webcast with Melanie Aitken, Elisa Kearney and John Pecman
C.D. Howe Institute events and webinars are open to members and their guests.
Please contact Mitch Tentsos, Senior Event Planner, at mtentsos@cdhowe.org to register.
Melanie Aitken, Managing Principal, Bennett Jones LLP
Melanie Aitken is the Managing Principal of Bennett Jones (US) LLP, which carries on the practice of Canadian law in Washington, DC, in association with Bennett Jones LLP. She is also co-head of the competition and foreign investment practice of Bennett Jones. She specializes in global antitrust and competition law and litigation, working closely with colleagues in our Toronto and other offices.
Melanie served as Canada’s Competition Commissioner, in charge of the Canadian Competition Bureau from 2009 to 2012, having previously served as the Senior Deputy Commissioner leading merger review from 2006 to 2009.
While serving as Commissioner, Melanie led many high-profile civil and criminal matters and worked extensively with leaders of international antitrust authorities around the world on enforcement and policy cases, holding leadership roles in key international organizations, such as the Steering Committee of the International Competition Network. Melanie is credited with revitalizing the Bureau as an active enforcement agency. Most notably, she led the introduction of major amendments to Canada’s competition laws, introducing a US-style second request merger review process in Canada, and a new per se criminal cartel offence. While establishing an unprecedented successful litigation record for the Bureau, Melanie initiated a landmark case that liberalized the Canadian real estate industry, brought cases forward in significant matters (including a challenge to Visa and MasterCard over card acceptance rules, and a challenge to a major airline merger to monopoly); during her tenure, the Bureau won the first court-ordered merger prohibition since the 1990s.
Melanie was a partner at Bennett Jones and Davies Ward Philips & Vineberg before joining the Bureau in 2005. She has acted as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada and represented the merging parties in Canada's leading efficiencies case, Superior Propane. Melanie has an active antitrust advisory, trial and commercial practice, representing major Canadian and US companies in significant matters across a broad range of industries, including financial services, large retail, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, airlines, oil and gas, consumer products and organized sport.
Melanie's recent experience includes Counsel to: Tiffany & Co. in connection with the US$16-billion transaction with LVMH; Mylan N.V. in its US$12-billion combination with Pfizer Inc.’s Upjohn business; American Airlines in its defence to class actions alleging capacity discipline, and Covid-related complaints; Bristol-Myers Squibb in its US$74-billion acquisition of Celgene; Allergan plc. in its US$63-billion sale to AbbVie; Fiserv, Inc. in its US$22-billion acquisition of First Data; Time Warner it its US$85-billion acquisition by AT&T; Alere, Inc. in its US$5.3-billion acquisition by Abbott; St. Jude Medical Inc. in its US$25-billion acquisition by Abbott; and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. in connection with its US$12.2-billion acquisition by Marriott International, Inc.
Elisa Kearney, Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Elisa has a broad regulatory practice with a specialization in competition and foreign investment law. With vast knowledge of Canada's regulatory framework, she provides strategic advice on numerous federal statutes to domestic and international clients interfacing with the Canadian government.
Elisa’s broad-based expertise has earned her the trust of leading technology, communications and media companies; retailers; and consumer packaged goods manufacturers, including in the highly regulated cannabis and food and drug sectors.
Clients turn to Elisa to advise on the full range of antitrust, consumer protection and privacy matters, from multijurisdictional merger controls and cartel investigations to reviewable conduct, misleading advertising and ecommerce. Investors in Canada’s communications and cannabis sectors, and companies subject to regulatory frameworks themselves, also rely on her for guidance in navigating Canadian laws.
Elisa regularly appears before the Competition Bureau and has acted as external counsel to the Commissioner of Competition and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
John Pecman, Senior Business Advisor, Fasken
John is a Senior Business Advisor in the Competition, Marketing and Foreign Investment group at Fasken. John, an economist with an MA from McMaster University, worked at the Competition Bureau as an investigator, manager, and executive for more than 34 years. John served as the Commissioner of Competition of the Competition Bureau Canada from June 2013 for a five-year term. Under John’s leadership, the Bureau’s enforcement actions preserved competition and drove innovation in a variety of major areas of the Canadian economy, including the automotive, manufacturing, e-commerce, telecommunications, and retail sectors. John was responsible for reinvigorating the Bureau’s role in advocating for Canadians by promoting the benefits of increased competition in regulated sectors of the economy. John’s philosophy of a more open, transparent, and collaborative Bureau led to many initiatives including a realignment of the organization, prioritization of corporate compliance programs and building many trust relationships with domestic and international partners.
John held executive positions with the OECD Competition Committee and the International Competition Network (ICN) and served as ICN/OECD Liaison to ensure coordination of work by these international bodies. Presently, John holds several appointments, including as a Non-Government Advisor (NGA) to the ICN, Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, as well as the TMX Industry Professor at DeGroote Business School at McMaster University.
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