Event information
Theme: Canadian Businesses at Crossroads: Trade, Tariffs and Strategic Response
Legal 500 is proud to present the Canada GC Forum 2026, in partnership with Miller Thomson LLP. The forum is designed for general counsel, chief legal officers, and senior in-house lawyers with responsibility for commercial, regulatory, compliance, or cross-border matters, particularly those managing exposure to U.S. trade policy and international supply chains or M& A in a volatile environment, and exploring new pathways for international market entry, expansion strategies, and strategic partnerships across key global regions.
Overview
The framework that governed cross-border trade for a generation is no longer holding. For Canadian businesses, tariffs, retaliatory trade measures, shifting US trade policy, sanctions, and geopolitical tension have moved from background concern to front-and-centre of commercial reality. What was once predictable is now fluid, and the pace of change is showing no sign of slowing.
The pace and complexity of these developments are increasing the pressure on general counsel. Decisions that would once have involved careful long-term deliberations now arrive under pressure, with incomplete information, and direct commercial and strategic consequences for the business.
This forum brings together Canada’s most senior in-house counsel for a candid peer-level discussion on what this era demands. The agenda is structured around the key questions GCs are grappling with now. How do you advise leadership when the goalposts keep moving? How do you build resilience into contracts, operations before the next disruption? And how do you position legal as a strategic function at precisely the moment when the business needs it most?
The forum moves beyond theory to examine how GCs are responding today, and what they should be doing to manage tariff exposure, support commercial decision-making, and position their organisations in an increasingly fragmented global environment.
Agenda
1.30pm-2.00pm Registration & light lunch
2.00pm-2.15pm Opening remarks
2.15pm-3.05pm The world has changed. Has your strategy? Trade, tariffs, and finding new ground beyond the U.S.
Here is the uncomfortable truth that this session starts with: most Canadian businesses are unlikely to successfully diversify away from the U.S. market. Not because the trade agreements are inadequate. Canada has more of them than any other G7 nation, covering markets from the European Union to the Asia-Pacific to Latin America. Not because the opportunities are absent, but because building genuine commercial capability in unfamiliar markets requires a kind of organisational rewiring that most businesses have neither the time nor the appetite for right now, when the immediate tariff crisis is still consuming all available attention.
That is the tension at the heart of this session. The business needs to manage today’s exposure while simultaneously building for a different future. Legal is being asked to support both – to renegotiate contracts, restructure supply chains, and advise on a trade agreement review whose outcome remains genuinely unclear, while also helping the organisation develop the legal and compliance infrastructure to operate credibly in markets it has largely ignored for thirty years.
The discussion does not pretend that those two demands are easily reconciled. It asks instead how the best GCs are making the choices. What gets prioritised, what gets deferred, and what that means for the organisation’s strategic position in two or three years’ time.
The legal and operational complexity of executing this shift is something that relatively few organisations have genuine expertise in, and confronting that reality sits at the core of this conversation.
3.05pm-3.55pm The strategic GC influence, authority, and the limits of both leading through geopolitical risk when the rules keep changing
Do the boards and leadership teams who say they want a strategic general counsel actually mean it?
Because the evidence is mixed. GCs are being invited into conversations they were not part of five years ago. They are being asked for views on geopolitical risk, market entry, and deal strategy. But being consulted is not the same as having influence. And there is a version of the “strategic GC” that is, on closer inspection, a highly capable person who is strategically fluent enough to be useful in a meeting, but whose advice is ultimately optional – sought when convenient, deferred around when it is not.
The current environment is testing that distinction in real time. Decisions about tariff exposure, supply chain restructuring, cross-border transactions, and market diversification are being made quickly, under pressure, with significant consequences if they go wrong. Legal is in the room. The question is whether legal is changing the outcome or providing sophisticated cover for decisions the business has already made.
This session is for GCs who are honest about that tension and want to work through what genuine strategic influence requires. Not the theory of it, but the practice – how you build the internal credibility that makes your advice hard to ignore, how you advise with authority when the situation is genuinely uncertain, and how you hold the line on risk without becoming the person who is known for slowing things down. And additionally, how do you build the future of in-house legal?
3.55pm-4.10pm Closing remarks
4.10pm-5.30pm Drinks and canapes
Speakers
Barry Horne, partner, Miller Thomson
Barry Horne is an experienced international and M&A tax lawyer with decades of practice, utilizing his deep tax knowledge and project management tools to deliver optimal client outcomes. He has collaborated with multidisciplinary teams, allowing him to provide holistic tax solutions. In international tax, Barry focuses on cross-border tax structuring, minimizing withholding taxes, and managing transfer pricing engagements. His M&A tax practice includes due diligence, structuring acquisitions and dispositions, streamlining corporate structures, post-acquisition structuring, and advising on private equity transactions. His experience helps clients maximize tax benefits and minimize liabilities in complex transactions.
Barry has held various leadership roles in tax and legal communities, including chairing professional associations, serving on editorial boards, and participating in working groups for international tax and M&A. His community involvement reflects a commitment to advancing the legal and tax profession through education, collaboration, and leadership in both Canadian and international tax law.
A member of several professional organizations, Barry’s experience has been recognized through numerous accolades, including being recommended for his outstanding work in various legal domains. Barry has shared his insights through various publications and presentations on international tax matters, showcasing his commitment to knowledge sharing and staying at the forefront of legal developments.
Dan Kiselbach, partner, Miller Thomson
Dan Kiselbach is your go-to legal professional for customs, global trade, and tax. He leverages a wealth of litigation experience at various Canadian court levels. With a keen focus on providing legal, strategic, and planning advice, Dan has guided clients across diverse sectors such as auto, energy, government, not-for profit, and public sectors. As the Managing Partner in Vancouver, he heads the firm’s Global Trade and Customs and Vancouver Tax groups offering comprehensive advice on issues ranging from anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, to controlled goods, customs and tax minimization strategies, and supply chain logistics.
Dan shares his knowledge in presentations for leading business, legal, and trade entities including Team Canada Trade Missions. He has authored works in several areas including customs, cross-border business, foreign anti-corruption, global trade, tax, and sanctions. His background makes him a reliable choice for navigating highly regulated legal landscapes. As a Cornell Executive MBA Americas graduate and mentor, he helps to set up the next generation of business leaders for success.
Renowned for his knowledge and experience, Dan Kiselbach is a trusted member of several prestigious organizations and has been consistently recognized in various well-respected industry directories. His accolades reflect his dedication to excellence in customs, e-commerce, global trade, logistics, and tax law.
