Advertise on podcast: Torys LLP Podcasts

At the start of his career, Brent Belzberg, Founder and Senior Executive Chairman of TorQuest, set out to prove that success in the cutthroat world of private equity could be achieved by the “nice guy”. Thirty years later, Brent’s values- and relationship-driven approach to business has made TorQuest a $5.5 billion leader in middle-market acquisitions, and has shaped his attitude towards philanthropy, family, and community. In this conversation, Brent shares his views on the importance of collaboration, the value of humility, and why kindness is a strength both within and beyond the boardroom.

The patent landscape is evolving, with entrepreneurs and investors alike seeking new approaches towards protecting IP rights consistently across jurisdictions. In this, organizations like the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) provide a valuable forum in which to voice concerns, analyze issues, and advance policies aimed at accelerating innovation across borders.  In this podcast, taken from a recent webinar, Nicole Mantini and Andrew Shaughnessy sit down with IPO’s President, John Cheek, and Executive Director, Jessica Landacre, ahead of the IPO’s 2026 Annual Meeting to discuss the growing importance of IP regulation, education, and representation, and share insights into how differing perspectives on IP policy in Canada, the United States, and abroad offer the potential to shape the innovation ecosystem.

In 2019, Jeff Davis, Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, was awarded Counsel of the Year. When he got up to give his acceptance speech, he spoke not about his career achievements, but about the mental health challenges that face legal professionals. While the speech might have come as a surprise to some in the room, those who have worked with Jeff know that his focus on vulnerability is one that has defined his career and leadership style.  In this episode, Jeff breaks down the importance of championing mental health in the workplace, and offers his views on how creating a culture of psychological safety contributes to corporate and personal success.

Do electoral riding officers have to live in the riding they represent – or does mandating their place of residence infringe their right to liberty? In this episode of BWA, our panelists discuss the scope of the right to liberty as outlined in section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and offer their views on why an upcoming Supreme Court case offers the possibility for robust debate on the issue of whether section 7 applies to claims that arise from interactions with the administration of justice.

After a 30-year career as one of Torys’ top dealmakers, Sharon Geraghty made a bold career move by becoming Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Great-West Lifeco. Swapping the legal world for a corporate environment was a challenge Geraghty knew she was up to—but what about trading the collaborative dynamic of a law office for overseeing hundreds of employees across global offices?   In this wide-ranging conversation with Zehra Sheerazi, Sharon shares her journey from private practice to executive leadership, and offers insight into the importance of prioritizing health along the way.

When a longstanding property deal falls through, can a party claim damages for hypothetical, rather than market, value? In this episode of Breakfast With Appeal, the panelists discuss the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Remington Development v. CPKC, offering new insight into the concept of indeterminate liability and limits to expectation damages.

Growing up as the lone corporate in a family of creatives, Tori Buffery’s pioneering career in GP-led secondaries has been anything but conventional. At what point did she stop considering her trajectory to be a series of “right place, right time” moments and begin recognizing her own role in her success?  In this episode of In the Chair, Buffery—Principal at Neuberger—shares how she played a pivotal role in building the GP-led secondaries market from the ground up, and how fostering meaningful, long-term connections and turning down job offers helped her embrace opportunity.

Fiat-backed stablecoins are swiftly gaining ground as an alternative means of payment—but how can Canada harness the full potential of the digital revolution? Without a clear domestic framework to support the use of blockchain-based payments linked to the Canadian dollar, Canadian digital payments risk being eclipsed by foreign-issued stablecoins, which could weaken domestic regulatory control over the system as a whole.  In this podcast, taken from a recent webinar, members of Torys’ Fintech team speak with Peter MacKenzie, Senior Policy Analyst at C.D. Howe Institute and co-author of The Window is Closing: How Canada Can Shape the Future of Stablecoins and Digital Payments, about the regulatory, economic, and policy considerations needed for Canada to establish a regulatory model for blockchain-based payments to compete in the digital payments market on a global scale.

In a day and age where career changes happen fast and frequently, spending 25 years at any one organization is something of a rarity. But Sharon Haward-Laird—Group Head of Canadian Commercial Banking and North American Integrated Solutions and Co-Head of Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking at BMO Financial Group—has spent over two decades building a corporate culture worth sticking around for.  In this episode, Sharon Haward-Laird offers insight into why BMO is consistently recognized as having one of Canada’s most admired corporate cultures, and why setting the “tone from the top” is so critical in fostering a workplace grounded in gratitude.

In this special edition episode of Breakfast With Appeal, Andrew Bernstein sits down with the Hon. Arif Virani, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to discuss his tenure as Canada’s chief law officer, providing his views on the critical questions and philosophies underpinning the decision-making process when defending government legislation and mandates (originally recorded on September 17, 2025).

What kinds of economic losses are recoverable in a negligence class action? What’s the difference between economic loss and a traditional negligence claim? In this episode, the panel discusses the findings in North v. BMW, where the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned a lower court’s decision narrowing the scope of a class action relating to engine defects.

As financial crime grows increasingly sophisticated, regulatory scrutiny for reporting entities is on the rise. In this conversation, Torys’ AML team explores the latest regulatory developments, trends and emerging risks in anti-money laundering enforcement efforts, and explores best practices for dealing with FINTRAC to proactively reduce the risk of enforcement action.  This podcast, taken from a recent webinar, provides an overview of FINTRAC’s supervisory framework and its Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) regime, highlighting recent trends in enforcement actions and proposed legislative amendments.

In her final years of undergrad, Chloe Berry had a decision to make: stand on an Olympic podium, or have a hand in building the stadium?  Thankfully for the world of infrastructure, Chloe chose the latter path, embarking on a career in investment banking and corporate finance that has taken her across the globe in a succession of roles that has led to her current position as Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group and Head of the Brookfield Infrastructure Income Strategy.  In this episode of In the Chair, Chloe Berry discusses her career trajectory with Zehra Sheerazi, sharing her views on corporate leadership, building a strong culture across global offices, and how she laid the groundwork for a new investment model by launching, growing and managing an infrastructure fund for private wealth worth nearly $6.5 billion.

With 16 years at CPPIB under her belt, Heather Tobin, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Factor Investing, has all but written the book on leadership at Canada’s largest pension fund—even if it’s not yet on Goodreads. In this wide-ranging conversation, Heather discusses her globally impactful career, the importance of strategic alignment when managing with cross-global teams, and the perspective she’s gained in helping to build an investment portfolio that thinks not in years, but in generations.

In this episode, Jennifer Suess, General Counsel, ESG and Corporate Secretary at RioCan REIT, discusses how a career in the healthcare sector led her to her current position as RioCan REIT’s first-ever general counsel—and how she’s using her role in real estate to revolutionize the delivery of virtual healthcare in Canada.