ABOUT PETER GRANT
Communications lawyer, author, musician, artist.
On May 1, 2020, Peter S. Grant retired as Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto, after practising law with the firm for over 50 years. He was the past chair of its Technology, Communications and Intellectual Property Group.
Peter Grant is an expert on communications law, entertainment law, copyright law, and cultural and trade policy. In the communications field, he is the co-author of numerous articles and publications, including the Canadian Broadcasting Regulatory Handbook, the 14th edition of which was published in 2017. The handbook is the standard reference in Canada on the Broadcasting Act (Canada) and the regulations and policies of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). In the copyright field, Peter is the principal author of the Guide to the Copyright Board of Canada, published in 2020.
In 2004, Douglas & McIntyre published Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World, a book co-authored by Peter Grant and Chris Wood. The book focuses on the economics of popular culture, the efforts to provide diversity of expression around the world and the impact of technology and trade law on the dissemination of cultural products. The book has been called "brilliant and sweeping" by the Toronto Star.
In 2013, the Porcupine’s Quill published Peter’s autobiography, entitled Changing Channels: Confessions of a Canadian Communications Lawyer. The book was called “a must read for law students, lawyers (of all seniority) as well as students and practitioners of public policy” in the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law.
From 1993 to 2020, Peter was appointed to act as the Broadcasting Arbitrator in federal elections, with the approval of all parties in the House of Commons.
Peter was one of six experts appointed by the federal government to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel in 2018. That Panel issued its Final Report on January 27, 2020, entitled Canada’s Communications Future: Time to Act.
Peter was born in Thunder Bay in 1941. He grew up in Kapuskasing, Ontario, until he moved to Toronto in 1960.
Peter is married to Grace Westcott, an IP lawyer. They have four children. Grace is the current President of PEN Canada. Peter and Grace were among the founders of the annual Digital Media at the Crossroads (DM@X) Conference, and Grace acted as its first Executive Director in 2015. Peter is the chair of the DM@X Steering Committee, which includes representatives from Toronto Metropolitan University, York University, the University of Toronto and OCAD.
Peter is an accomplished musician, having studied orchestration at the Eastman School of Music. He is also an occasional watercolour artist.
