Speaker details

Biography

Sylvie Tabet is General Counsel at Canada’s Trade Law Bureau where she provides trade and investment law advice to the Government of Canada. She has litigated numerous WTO and NAFTA Chapter 11 cases on behalf of the Government of Canada and was instrumental in creating its investor state dispute settlement team. In addition, she has extensive experience in negotiating international trade and investment agreements. Notably, she was closely involved in the negotiation of many of Canada’s international trade and investment agreements (including the Bilateral Investment Treaty with China, CPTPP and the Canada-EU Trade Agreement where Sylvie was lead counsel for the Government of Canada) and most recently in the negotiation of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Indonesia and a free trade agreement with ASEAN. She leads Canada’s delegation in the on-going UNCITRAL Working Group III on investor state dispute settlement reform and chairs the OECD track II discussions on the future of investment treaties. She teaches and guest lectures frequently on trade and investment law issues. Ms. Tabet has obtained her law degree from the University of Montréal in 1993 and is a member of the Québec Bar since 1994. After working with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montréal, she joined the Privy Council Office, Intergovernmental Affairs, and then the Foreign Service. She occupied various positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and the Department of Justice. She is fluent in French and English and has a good knowledge of Spanish.