The Past Speaks

Co-sponsored by Long Run Initiative (LRI) and the Wilson/Currie Chair in Canadian Business History, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

This free half-day conference focuses on one of the great public policy challenges of our time: the power of Big Tech. Across the North Atlantic world, governments and publics are coming to grips with the implications of just how large and powerful the FAANG companies – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (Alphabet) – have become.

Bringing together academics, policy makers and corporate executives for evidence-led discussions on this key 21st century challenge, the conference also explores how our experience with historical monopolies can provide meaningful insight.

We are pleased to welcome as our keynote guests Hon. Dr. Kevin Lynch, former clerk of the Privy Council, and Dr. Richard Langlois, Professor of Economics, University of Connecticut, who will each feature in a virtual fireside conversation. The event will also include two panel discussions with participants drawn from the senior ranks of government and business. Each session will include time for audience questions.

The event will also include two panel discussions with participants drawn from the senior ranks of government and business. The first panel will address the international perspective on Big Tech and anti-trust. The second panel will address possible Canadian responses, in both public policy and corporate strategy. Each session will include time for audience questions.

This conference is co-hosted by the Wilson/Currie Chair in Canadian Business History, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and Long Run Initiative (LRI), a not-for-profit initiative which organizes short, high-impact roundtable events for academic experts, business leaders and public policymakers to reflect on and discuss parallels from the past and consider how these lessons apply to their own organizations.

Programme

8:30 – 8:40 am
OPENING REMARKS
Conference Co-Chairs
Dr. Dimitry Anastakis, The Wilson/Currie Chair in Canadian Business History, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Dr. Laurence B. Mussio, Co-Founder & Director, Long Run Initiative (LRI)

8:40 – 9:00 am
FIRESIDE WITH DR. RICHARD LANGLOIS
Hunting the Big Five: Twenty-First Century Anti-Trust in Historical Perspective
Dr. Richard Langlois, Professor of Economics, University of Connecticut
Dr. Dimitry Anastakis, Rotman School of Management

9:00 – 10:20 am
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON BIG TECH AND ANTI-TRUST
The tension between oligopolistic technology firms reflects one of the most compelling episodes of anti-trust debate in corporate history, with long-term implications for today and the future. Attempts to rein in anti-competitive behaviour in the United States and the European Union are complicated by the evolving legal landscape, various nationalist pressures, and broader questions over the role of the state in regulating technology, culture, information. Questions also arise about the very nature of consumption. This session will address how governments and these companies are responding to the challenges.

Panelists
Dr. Gillian Hadfield, Director, Schwartz-Reisman Institute, University of Toronto
Ms. Claudette McGowan, Global Executive Officer for Cyber Security, TD Bank
Mr. Victor Tung, Executive Vice President U.S Chief Technology & Operations Officer & Chief Operating Officer, BMO Financial Group
Dr. Michael Aldous, Senior Lecturer, Queen’s Management School, Queen’s University, Belfast

Moderator
Mr. David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail

10:20 – 10:40 am
BREAK
10:40 – 11:00 am
FIRESIDE WITH THE HON. DR. KEVIN G. LYNCH
Anti-Trust in a Digital World: Do Old Problems Require New Solutions?
The Hon. Dr. Kevin G. Lynch, P.C., O.C., Ph.D., LL.D, Former Clerk of the Privy Council
Dr. Laurence B. Mussio, Long Run Initiative

11:00 – 12:20 pm
CANADIAN PERSPECTIVES WITHIN INTERNATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
What are the possible Canadian responses, in both public policy and corporate strategy, to the grand challenges posed by Big Tech and the corporate or institutional forms it takes? The challenges are multifaceted: they are also made more complex for countries outside the superpower or bloc structure (USA, China, EU) whose companies and governments have to find a middle way with relatively limited leverage. This session will discuss the various aspects of a global challenge in a national context.

Panelists
Mr. Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Mr. Lawson A.W. Hunter, Senior Counsel, Stikeman Elliott LLP
Professor Taylor Owen, Max Bell School of Public Policy & Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications, McGill University
Dr. Elizabeth Acorn, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science, University of Toronto

Moderator
David Skok, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, The Logic

12:20 – 12:30 pm
CLOSING REMARKS
Conference Co-Chairs
Dr. Laurence B. Mussio, Long Run Initiative
Dr. Dimitry Anastakis, Rotman School of Management