Moot Report 2026: Strong showings at Canadian National Negotiations Competition

Four University of Manitoba Faculty of Law teams from Robson Hall competed at the tenth annual Canadian National Negotiation Competition (CNNC) held in Montréal on March 13th and 14th, 2026. Manitoba competed in both French and an English language streams , with one of the French-speaking teams bringing home “le prix d’excellence dans l’esprit de la négociation” (“the Spirit of Negotiation award”).

The teams had some adventures making it to the competition, when a severe ice storm in the region forced flight cancellations and an unexpected stay overnight in Toronto, followed by a six hour train ride into Montréal.  Despite travel set-backs, the four teams of third-year law students, Avery Alexiuk & Jayden Kyryluk; Dena Aminzadeh & Mitchell Klippenstein; Emily Dueck & Kate O’Rourke; and Eric Matthews & Vanessa Smith put in extremely strong showings against a talented field of the best law student negotiators from across Canada. 

The Manitoba teams were expertly coached by three Robson Hall alumni: Andrea Doyle [LLB/09], an Instructor at the Faculty; Andrew Torbiak [JD/15], who practises Estates and Trusts with Tradition Law; and Heather Wadsworth [JD/15], who practises family law at Wadsworth Family Law.

I was involved in assisting with the administration of the competition, and I heard praise from many people, including judges, coaches, and fellow competitors, about their performances.

Smith and Matthews, who competed as a team in the French stream, received the “the Spirit of Negotiation” award (le prix d’excellence dans l’esprit de la négociation). This award is peer-nominated and goes to the team that best illustrates the values of collaboration, humility, teamwork and respect.  Their coach, Andrea Doyle, commented that “Vanessa and Eric were honoured to be recognized by francophone negotiation teams for their collegiality and collaboration in working towards solutions that were in their clients’ interests.” 

About the CNNC

Nine years ago, the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law hosted the inaugural national negotiation competition at Robson Hall.  The size of the competition has been growing each year, both in terms of total teams participating and number of law schools represented.

The 2026 competition was hosted by the Université de Sherbrooke, at their Longueuil campus in Montréal. The competition was generously sponsored by the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law.

This year’s competition theme was “Negotiating Sustainable Trade in the Tariff War Era” featuring a problem focused on domestic multilateral negotiations, set against the backdrop of upcoming trade talks between two fictitious countries (closely based on Canada and the United States of America): True North Confederation (TNC) and the North American Republic (NAR). The countries share an international border, as well as an interest in industries and resources. At issue across all three rounds were manufacturing (automobile, steel and aluminum in particular), mining, softwood lumber, and overall economic development and planning – as well as relationships and potential alignments to buttress national bargaining strengths in the lead-up to the upcoming international negotiations. Although fictional, this narrative obviously mirrors current realities. The writing of the problem was a truly collaborative effort, with input from professors from the Université de Sherbrooke, University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Manitoba.

All of the negotiating took place under the scrutiny of judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement. 

The competition has always had an educational component, and this year that component was expanded.  There was a pre-competition colloquium involving many presentations and panels on international trade over two days (March 12thand 13th).  Highlights included opening remarks by the Delegate General for Quebec in Washington, a panel discussing Indigenous communities and critical natural resources and minerals (with one of the panelists being Yvan Larocque, Clinical Counsel here at the University of Manitoba and a well-respected Indigenous business lawyer), and a talk about environmental mediation by the Honourable Louise Otis, President of the Administrative Tribunal of both the OECD and NATO.

French Stream 

This was the fourth year that the CNNC ran a parallel French stream, and this year saw the most teams to ever participate in that stream. Teams competed in French using a translated version of the same problems as in the English stream. Twelve teams competed in the French stream coming from the University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan, University of Windsor, University of Ottawa, McGill, l’Université de Montréal and l’Université de Sherbrooke. 

While the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law has participated in the French stream of the CNNC since it began, this was the first year that we had two teams participating in this stream. Team members Alexiuk, Kyryluk, Matthews, and Smith, excelled in the French Legal Negotiation course (Négociation juridique), offered by the UM Faculty of Law within its Access to Justice in French Concentration.  

Andrea Doyle, coach of the French teams, stated that, “I am proud of how Avery and Jayden, Eric and Vanessa demonstrated their excellent negotiation skills and strategies while taking on the additional challenge of negotiating in their second language. They worked hard and impressed the judges with their preparation, diligence, teamwork, and collaboration. This was a valuable learning experience demonstrating their abilities to represent clients in French.”

Andrea Doyle continued, that the French teams “were excellent representatives of Robson Hall. They worked well together and conducted themselves in a collegial and respectful manner with integrity and professionalism.”

Doyle also noted that preparation for the CNNC was a team effort. She wishes to acknowledge and thank the support that was provided by our students who participated in the English stream (Aminzadeh, Klippenstein, Dueck, and O’Rourke) and their coaches, Andrew Torbiak and Heather Wadsworth. Kennedy Pinette [JD/23] of MLT Aikins and Chris Dick [JD/23] of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, both graduates of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law and former CNNC competitors in the French stream, also provided valuable advice and feedback to the Manitoba team.

“We appreciate the CNNC organizing committee’s work in continuing to expand the French stream, providing students an important opportunity to apply their negotiation skills in French,” said Doyle. “We wish to thank Justice Canada, the Faculty of Law and members of the Franco-Manitoban legal community for supporting the Access to Justice in French Concentration. We also wish to acknowledge and thank the Faculty of Law and the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law for their support of our negotiation teams.”

Student Experiences

The student competitors had an opportunity to reflect on their experiences after the competition concluded. All agreed that the competition was an invaluable experience, one they would highly recommend to their fellow law students.

Kyryluk enthused, “The Canadian National Negotiation Competition was a highlight of my law school experience, allowing me to develop invaluable skills while proudly representing my law school and province. I was especially proud to compete in my second language, French, an achievement made possible through extensive preparation with our coach, Andrea Doyle. The negotiation skills I gained will serve me well both in practice and in life, and I will always look back fondly on the friendships I built and the people I met through CNNC.”

Smith stated, “The Canadian National Negotiation Competition was unlike anything else I have done in law school. The level of talent from across the country was impressive, but the sense of community between law schools was what really stood out. Competing in the French stream was one of the highlights of my time at Robson Hall, and I am so grateful for Professor Andrea Doyle's coaching and for the opportunity to compete alongside Eric.”

Matthews emphasized the valuable professional skills acquired from the competition. He explained, “It was a privilege to represent Robson Hall and the University of Manitoba at the 2026 Canadian National Negotiation Competition in Montreal, Quebec, where I competed in the French-language stream. This competition required my fellow participants and I to tackle relevant, complex issues concerning tariffs and trade agreements, as well as the effects of same on the private sector and on Indigenous communities. Balancing various interests and negotiating agreements in this context fostered considerable growth in my negotiation skills, and doing so in my second language facilitated growth in that respect as well. A special thanks goes out to my negotiation partner, Vanessa Smith, and to our coach, Andrea Doyle”.

All of the coaches were filled with praise for the students’ performances.  Wadsworth stated, “The Robson Hall students demonstrated true resilience and persistence at the CNNC this year. Actually getting to the competition had its challenges and we are so proud of the students for not letting that derail their focus or enthusiasm.”