Counterfactual

CBA Spring Conference Recap: Key Themes in Competition and Foreign Investment

Host Julia Potter speaks with conference co-chairs Josh Chad and Laura O’Laughlin about highlights from the recent CBA Competition Law Section Spring Conference in Montreal. They discuss key themes across panels, including the growing intersection between competition law and national economic strategy, evolving merger review practices, and the anticipated expansion of private access to the Competition Tribunal. The conversation also explores the role of political will in major projects, practical insights from the keynote on foreign investment review, and competition across the AI stack.

Competition Law Compliance Series: Risk Identification, Assessment & Mitigation

In this episode of the Counterfactual Podcast, we hear from Beth Riley of McMillan LLP and Sultana Bennett of RBC for the second installment of our competition law compliance series.  In this episode, we focus on risks: how to identify and assess the quantum of risk and how to mitigate risk while achieving business objectives.  Our guests also review some hypothetical risk situations to provide additional practical advice. The first installment of the Competition Law Compliance Series can be found at: https://counterfactual.simplecast.com/episodes/compliance-compass-guiding-your-business-through-canadas-competition-laws.

If it’s Broke, Can You Fix It? Exploring the Right to Repair with Professor Anthony Rosborough

In this episode of the Counterfactual Podcast, Valeska Rebello and Kevin Hong sit down with Professor Anthony Rosborough, Assistant Professor of Law and Computer Science at Dalhousie University, to discuss the “Right to Repair”. They discuss the recent amendments to the Competition Act, compare Canada’s approach to other jurisdictions, address practical enforcement challenges, and examine the broader social and economic impacts on repair restrictions. This episode is a collaboration with the Young Lawyer's Committee of the CBA's Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review section.

Better Know the Bureau Series: Getting to Know Jonathan Hood

In this episode, host Julia Potter continues the Better Know the Bureau series with an in‑depth conversation with Jonathan Hood, Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice for Competition Bureau Legal Services (CBLS). Jonathan shares his winding path from private practice to competition enforcement, to leading major litigation files in Canadian competition law.

Pending Amendments to the Environmental Claims Provisions of the Competition Act: In Conversation with Julien Beaulieu

In June 2024, the Competition Act was amended to require businesses to have testing or substantiation to support certain environmental claims, and in June 2025, the Competition Tribunal became empowered to grant leave to private parties to bring deceptive marketing cases, including in relation to environmental claims, if the Tribunal is satisfied that it would be in the “public interest.”  In November 2025 the Government proposed further amendments to the environmental claims provisions of the Competition Act that would walk back some of the earlier amendments not long after they took effect.  Julien Beaulieu, who was our guest in previous episodes about environmental claims that aired in April 2023 and September 2024, returns to share his insights on this important development.