May 22, 2013

The Competition Policy Council

Vibrant, dynamic competition lies at the heart of a robust economy, and supportive competition policy is essential to innovation, growth, and consumers’ wellbeing.

The C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council comprises top ranked academics and practitioners active in competition policy. The Council, chaired by Finn Poschmann, Vice President, Research at the C.D. Howe Institute, provides expert, independent analysis of emerging competition policy issues, including those potentially faced by the Competition Bureau.

The Council generates crucial analysis for practitioners in the field, convenes a neutral forum for testing competing views, and provides an opportunity for policymakers, the media and the public to draw on the expertise of the competition field’s most distinguished legal and economic minds. The Council, whose members participate in their personal capacities, releases public reports that outline the issues and summarize the reasoning behind participants’ recommendations.

All reports are available at no cost via the Institute’s website.

  • The report of the Competition Policy Council’s June 17, 2011 meeting (on telecommunications ownership restrictions) is available here
  • The report of the Competition Policy Council’s November 10, 2011 meeting (on how competition policy legislation and enforcement can discourage truly anti-competitive agreements without discouraging healthy cooperation) is available here
  • The report of the Competition Policy Council’s May 7, 2012 meeting (on the distortive power of AMPs) is available here 
  • The report of the Competition Policy Council’s  November 8, 2012 meeting (on Competition Act enforcement in regulated sectors) is available here.
  • The report of the Competition Policy Council’s April 30, 2013 meeting (on why the Competition Bureau should improve the incentives for cartel members to abandon cartels and report their existence) is available here

Council Members

Members of the Competition Policy Council participate in their personal capacities, and the views collectively expressed do not represent those of any institution or client. The current members of the Council are:

George N. Addy, Partner, Head of Competition and Foreign Investment Review, Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg LLP. Director of Investigation and Research, Competition Bureau, 1993-1996

Marcel Boyer, Bell Canada Professor Emeritus of Industrial Economics, Université de Montréal, and Fellow of CIRANO

Timothy Brennan, Professor, Public Policy and Economics, University of Maryland Baltimore County. T.D. MacDonald Chair of Industrial Economics, Competition Bureau, 2006

Neil Campbell, Partner, Competition and Trade Law, McMillan LLP

Jeffrey R. Church, Professor of Economics, University of Calgary. T. D. MacDonald Chair of Industrial Economics, Competition Bureau, 1995-1996

Brian Facey, Co-Chair of Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Adam F. Fanaki, Partner, Competition and Foreign Investment Review and Litigation, Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Peter Glossop, Partner, Competition/Antitrust, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Calvin S. Goldman, Co-Chair of Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP; Director of Investigation and Research, Competition Bureau, 1986-1989

R. Jay Holsten, Chair of Competition and Antitrust Group, Torys LLP

Lawson A. W. Hunter Q.C., Head of Competition/Antitrust Group, Stikeman Elliott LLP. Director of Investigation and Research, Competition Bureau, 1981-1985

Edward Iacobucci, Osler Chair in Business Law, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.  Competition Policy Scholar, C.D. Howe Institute

Thomas W. Ross, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia

Margaret Sanderson, Vice President, Practice Leader of Antitrust & Competition Economics, Charles River Associates

Roger Ware, Professor of Economics, Queen’s University. T.D. MacDonald Chair of Industrial Economics, 1993-1994

Lawrence J. White, Robert Kavesh Professor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University

Ralph A. Winter, Canada Research Chair in Business Economics and Public Policy, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia