Suzanne Sabourin

Suzanne is counsel in the Advocacy Group of Gowling WLG's Ottawa office.

Informed by her experience in government affairs, Suzanne deals with the intricacies of public law at all levels of government. Her practice focuses on helping clients shape public policy, challenge regulations or pursue legislative change. She also represents clients before government departments and agencies.

Suzanne has advised foreign and Canadian companies on a variety of issues, including products labelling, packaging and marketing, product safety, liability issues and recalls, and regulatory approvals, licensing and reform. Suzanne has provided advice on food safety regulations under the Safe Food for Canadians Act. She has also prepared clients to appear before Parliamentary Committees and has written many legislative and regulatory submissions on their behalf, helping to advance their positions on public policy matters. Suzanne has also provided advice on the business implications of trade agreements, particularly with respect to agricultural products.

Before joining Gowling WLG, Suzanne was a member of several advisory groups, including the Industry Advisory Group to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. She acted as chief industry liaison, enabling industry associations to define and successfully relay members' positions to government during complex bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. She also played a leadership role in working with the CFIA and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to develop and implement work plans under the Regulatory Cooperation Council.

Suzanne also set up the independent complaint resolution non-profit organization for the general insurance industry – the General Insurance OmbudService (GIO) – to ensure compliance with the mandatory requirements of the federal Insurance Companies Act. During that time, she was an active member of the Financial Services Ombuds Network (FSON), where she developed the guiding principles for consumer complaint resolution that are still in use today.

Suzanne is fluently bilingual. She provides legal services in French and English.