“Howard’s record of accomplishment and public service is outstanding. He has made signal contributions to addressing many of Canada’s most critical regulatory challenges,” stated Robson.
January 25, 2016 – William Robson, President and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, announces the appointment of the Honourable Howard I. Wetston, former Chair & CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission, as a Senior Fellow.
“Howard’s record of accomplishment and public service is outstanding. He has made signal contributions to addressing many of Canada’s most critical regulatory challenges,” stated Robson. “We are honoured to have him as an Institute Fellow, and enthusiastic about working with him.”
Mr. Wetston recently completed his five-year term with the Ontario Securities Commission. He was previously Chair & CEO of the Ontario Energy Board from 2003 to 2010, and was a Vice-Chair of the OSC from 1999 to 2003. He was also Vice Chair of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Mr. Wetston was granted the title “Honourable” after an exemplary six years as a Trial Judge at the Federal Court of Canada and Ex-officio Judge of its Appeal Division.
He was appointed Q.C. during his seven years as a prominent regulator working up to the level of Director of Investigations & Research (now Commissioner of Competition) at the federal government’s Bureau of Competition Policy.
He spent the first 12 years of his career as a lawyer achieving the positions of General Counsel at the Canadian Transport Commission and Assistant General Counsel at the National Energy Board. Mr. Wetston was also General Counsel and Program Director at the Consumers’ Association of Canada. Before that, he was a Crown Counsel in Nova Scotia and at the federal Department of Justice. He has worked in private practice in a joint-Ottawa office of a Montreal- and Calgary-based law firm, and articled in private practice in Halifax.
In addition, Mr. Wetston is a member of the Advisory Board for The Program on Ethics in Law and Business at the University of Toronto and is a member of the Shannon School of Business Advisory Board at Cape Breton University. He was a lecturer of competition law and policy, and regulated industries at the University of Ottawa.
Mr. Wetston holds an LL.B. from Dalhousie and a B.Sc. from Mount Allison and has been called to the Bar in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Cape Breton University and Dalhousie University.
For more information please contact: James Fleming of the C.D. Howe Institute at 416-865-1904; email: media@cdhowe.org.
The C.D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research institute whose mission is to raise living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. Widely considered to be Canada's most influential think tank, the Institute is a trusted source of essential policy intelligence, distinguished by research that is nonpartisan, evidence-based and subject to definitive expert review.