February 8, 2019 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada
The Government of Canada is committed to appointing highly qualified candidates able to best serve the interests of Canadians.
In keeping with this commitment, Finance Minister Bill Morneau today announced two appointments to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT): Rose Ritcey as Vice-Chair and Susan Beaubien as a Permanent Member. The appointments are for five-year terms.
Ms. Ritcey is currently a Member of the CITT, where she hears and decides matters within its mandate, participates in its governance structure and Advisory Council, and represents the CITT in various national and international fora. She has held a variety of positions at CITT from 1989 to 1996 and again since 2003.
Ms. Beaubien is a lawyer with extensive practice in intellectual property, related civil litigation, regulatory law, administrative law and alternative dispute resolution, including active intellectual property litigation practice and experience providing advice and identifying issues concerning privacy law, corporate and commercial law, human rights and employment law.
These appointments were made under the Government of Canada's new approach to Governor in Council appointments. This approach supports open, transparent and merit-based selection processes that strive for gender parity and reflect Canada's diversity, to support Ministers in making appointment recommendations for positions within their portfolio by providing them with information and referrals.
Biographical Notes
Rose Ann Ritcey has 35 years of public sector experience, largely in the field of trade analysis and policy. She has been with the CITT from 1989 to 1996 and again since 2003 in a variety of roles, most recently as a Member, since 2015. Ms. Ritcey's previous roles at the CITT include Special Advisor to the Chairperson, and formerly Director and Director General in the Research Branch. From 1998 to 2002 Ms. Ritcey served in the Domestic Tariff Affairs unit of the International Trade and Finance Branch at the Department of Finance Canada.
Ms. Ritcey holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University and an MBA from Dalhousie University.
Susan Beaubien is a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in intellectual property litigation, administrative law and federal regulatory law, particularly for the pharmaceutical industry. She is a registered patent and trademark agent, a trained mediator and arbitrator, and an experienced corporate director of non-profit entities. She is also a member of numerous professional organizations, and has taught and given speeches and presentations on a wide range of topics pertaining to intellectual property law over the course of her career.
Ms. Beaubien has been with the law firm Macera & Jarzyna LLP since 2005. In February 2018, she was appointed by the Government of Canada as a Roster Member for dispute resolution binational panels convened under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Ms. Beaubien holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Mount Allison University and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University.
"The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is recognized in Canada and around the world as a centre of excellence in the fair and timely adjudication of trade law matters. I wish to congratulate today's appointees and expect that their significant experience will be an asset to the Tribunal. Furthermore, the appointment of Ms. Ritcey to the newly created Vice-Chair position will further strengthen the Tribunal's ability to deliver on its mandate."
- Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance
Quick facts
The CITT is an independent quasi-judicial adjudicative body reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Finance.
It conducts injury inquiries into dumping and subsidy complaints; hears appeals of decisions of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canada Revenue Agency; inquires into complaints by potential suppliers concerning procurement by the federal government covered under various trade agreements; conducts safeguard inquiries; and provides advice to the Government and/or to the Minister of Finance on economic, trade and tariff issues.
In light of the essential function that the CITT performs in Canada's trade remedy system and to ensure that it continues to effectively deliver on its mandate, the Government amended the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act through Budget 2018 to create the position of Vice-Chair.
