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Axler said he finds Canada’s relatively small market appealing because there are fewer analysts, particularly forensic analysts, tracking companies.

“We view that as a market opportunity,” he said, adding that a growing base of retail investors in certain sectors provides a ready audience for activists seeking to make an impact.

“We think Canadian shareholders are more apt to listen to an activist,” he said.

Dollarama stock has been climbing so far this year, regaining some of the ground it lost after last year’s Spruce Point report and a general market decline. Maxar stock hasn’t bounced back from a slide that began in mid-2018.

Activism is already “off the charts” in Canada, with 22 short campaigns last year alone, said Patricia Olasker, a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg who was part of the panel discussion.

During the discussion, Axler, whose firm has targeted companies from North America to Australia to China, criticized managers who pursue unsustainable returns, use short-term funds to pursue share buybacks, and pay themselves well despite missing targets.

Conditions are ripe for activism in a bull market, where “excessive valuations” are common, he said. While some companies are rising with the tide, analysts tend to be unified in assigning ‘buy’ recommendations.

Short-sellers create a “natural counterbalance,” in these circumstances, he said.

Axler said he attended the Toronto event to stake Spruce Point’s claim as a “fact-based” short-seller, firmly outside the camp of “short and distort” players who use misleading facts to drive down a share price and profit from the decline.