The Crawford Panel on a Single Canadian Securities Regulator today released summaries of input received on its discussion paper, A Blueprint for a New Model, during a series of regional roundtable discussions held across the country earlier this year.

“The panel is pleased with both the scope and quality of input received from participants in the consultation process,” said Purdy Crawford, chair of the panel and a legal authority on securities regulation. “The comments are quite constructive and will help guide the panel in the preparation of a final report expected in early June.”

The Ontario minister responsible for securities regulation established the Crawford Panel on a single Canadian securities regulator in May 2005. It was tasked with recommending a model for a common securities regulator, a common body of securities law and a single fee structure. The panel released its discussion paper on Dec. 7, 2005.

Subsequent to the release of the discussion paper, regional roundtables were established to ensure that the panel received a cross-section of opinion, comment and suggestions on its proposed model. More than 74 people participated in the roundtable meetings, held in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax between Feb. 14 and April 11. The meetings were chaired by a panel member and independently facilitated by representatives of the Public Policy Forum.

Panel members are Brian A. Canfield, chair, TELUS Corp.; Claude Lamoureux, president and CEO, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board; John MacNaughton, corporate director and former president and CEO, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; Jacques Ménard, chairman, BMO Nesbitt Burns and president, BMO Financial Group, Québec; Gwyn Morgan, vice chairman and director, EnCana Corp.; Dawn Russell, associate professor and former dean, Dalhousie Law School; and Purdy Crawford, counsel, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

The summaries are available on the panel’s website at www.crawfordpanel.ca.