Canadian Lawyer InHouse

41 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2017 P r o f e s s i o n a l P r o f i l e managing that legal risk." She points to the CRTC's creation of the wireless code three years ago as an example of where it was foreseeable that the wireless providers might take the issue to court, but the commissioners nevertheless pushed "the envelope of legal risk" because they consid- ered it in the public interest to spell out rights and regulate contracts for mobile customers. Laizner oversees a unit of 24 lawyers. Four are "team leads" that manage fi les in specifi c areas: telecom, broadcasting, en- forcement and consumer and social policy. It's a structure that enables some lawyers to handle fi les in a mix of areas, while oth- ers may work exclusively in one area, such as enforcement. "We try to accommodate lawyers' professional aspirations that way, as well as giving young lawyers an opportunity to develop in all areas," she says. At least one commission lawyer always attends the public hearings held by the CRTC prior to making major decisions. Laizner herself often sits in on portions of hearings or tunes in to them on the Cable Public Affairs Channel. "As a lawyer, you know where the points will come up in a hearing where it would be important to pay closer attention," she says. The past 18 months of CRTC decision- making following its "Let's Talk TV" public consultations have been a "watershed mo- ment" for the agency, she says, citing policies such as simsub, pick-and-pay television chan- nel choice for consumers and more opportu- nities for Canadian content creators. "I found being part of that process quite exciting." The Montreal-born, bilingual Laizner says she "fell into law" as a career. "I was one of those students who didn't know where I wanted to go as a career path. When I was accepted at Western Uni- versity and actually studied law, however, I got excited. I found the intellectual pro- cess that you learn at law school to be very interesting." She spent fi ve years in private practice, making partner at Chown Cairns Lawyers LLP in St. Catharines, Ont. after relocating from Toronto due to her husband's career. She specialized in civil litigation, family law and insurance defence litigation. When another spousal relocation brought her to Ottawa, she explored opportunities in both the private and public sectors. "I wanted to get slightly out of the family law area, and I found that gaining public sector experience would accomplish that. Again, it was one of those things where you get into it and your appetite for it grows. I really en- joyed the macro level of legal issues that you deal with in the public sector," she says. Starting with the Justice Department as a civil litigator in 1987, she became counsel to Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1996. She pro- vided legal advice on fi rst the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and then its successor, the North American Free Trade Agreement. "My work on the FTA was in the detailed negotiation of the implementation of it be- tween the two countries and bringing into force all the amendments that were required to existing legislation in Canada," she re- calls. (She received the Justice Department's Merit Award for her work on the FTA.) For the NAFTA negotiations, she was involved from the outset. She focused on Chapter 19, the bi-national dispute settle- ment process for anti-dumping and coun- tervailing duty cases. Both accords, she recalls, demanded "a lot of round-the-clock negotiations and frequent travel to the U.S. and Mexico." She was also Canada's legal adviser on the 1995 softwood lumber agree- ment with the U.S. From 1997 to 2007, Laizner was at Public Works as co-manager of its litigation and procurement review practice group. She defended the federal government's procure- ment decisions or processes against legal challenges by unsuccessful bidders. "I would defend before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and also provide litigation support before the Federal Court," she says. She also advised other government departments on how to conduct a fair procurement based on the jurisprudence that emerged from the CITT or from the Federal Court. Laizner then headed the legal services branch at the Canadian International Development Agency for three years. "I was there when there was a lot of legal work involved in contracting by CIDA in war- torn areas of Afghanistan." The move to the CRTC in 2010 to be- come general counsel for telecommunica- tions represented a major shift in legal roles for Laizner. "In my legal career, I had been engaged in litigation in front of administra- tive tribunals and courts." She had often wondered, "What's it like to be inside a court or tribunal and provide legal advice to the decision-makers on the cases that come before them? This was an opportunity to be inside a decision-maker." IH SECOND SNAPSHOT T H E L A W Y E R Christianne Laizner T H E C O M P A N Y CRTC • Attended Western Law at Western University in London, Ont. • Spent five years in private practice, making partner at Chown Cairns Lawyers LLP in St. Catharines, Ont. • Started with the Justice Department as a civil litigator in 1987; she became counsel to Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1996. • Advised on first the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and then its successor, the North American Free Trade Agreement. • Received the Justice Department's Merit Award for her work on the FTA. • Moved to the CRTC in 2010 to become general counsel for telecommunications. Now oversees a unit of 24 lawyers.

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