Mark Warner was interviewed on the CBC News Weekend Business Panel about the implications for Canada of the U.S. – China Phase 1 trade agreement and leading asset manager, Blackrock‘s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) climate risk investment pledge. (January 18, 2020) Mark 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. Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration. As MEDT Legal Director, Mark advised on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including Huawei. 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

As MEDT Legal Director, Mark also provided advice to the Government of Ontario on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings. Mark previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate and participated in the negotiation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and work on its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 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.