May 2012 — In this issue…
Articles of interest
• Cyber attack! How to handle the latest compliance challenge
• Federal Government proposes more changes to the Investment Canada Act
• The 4–10 workweek (4 days, 10 hours a day)
• Is mobile technology reducing our productivity?
Items of value
• Pocketbook on Canadian export controls
• 2012 In-House Counsel Barometer Survey
• 2012 Corporate Counsel Compensation Survey — Coming Soon!
Advocacy
• Money laundering legislation must respect solicitor–client privilege
• Double tax for legal fees and other professional services in Manitoba
• The CBA urges ratification of the ICSID Convention
• Protecting RRSPs and RRIFs from creditors
Upcoming professional development
• Fall 2012 In-Person Conferences
• CCCA PD
• Online PD
• Skilled Lawyers Series II
ARTICLES
Cyber attack! How to handle the latest compliance challenge
By Duncan Card
Cyber security preparedness and monitoring is one of the most serious issues to recently emerge in the fast-changing landscape of corporate goverenance.
Federal Government proposes more changes to the Investment Canada Act regime
By Anthony Baldanza
In 2007, the Conservative government established a Competition Policy Review Panel to, among other things, review Canada’s foreign investment policies and to make recommendations for making Canada more competitive in an increasingly global marketplace. More recently, through its Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act introduced to Parliament on April 26, 2012 as Bill C–38, and through various announcements made on May 25, 2012 by Industry Minister Christian Paradis, the government has proposed additional changes intended to respond to recommendations in the Compete to Win report and other concerns.
Of note: On May 29, 2012, the CBA Competition Law Section wrote to the Parliamentary Committees studying Bill C–38, to express its concerns with the proposed ICA amendments and make several recommendations. Read the letter. 
The 4-10 workweek (4 days, 10 hours a day)
By Katya Hodge
Ann Max, a productivity expert in Ottawa, talks about the benefits of a condensed 4-10 (4 days, 10 hours a day) workweek: “It’s really been proven that when you concentrate your time into those four days there’s a lot of more energy, there’s a lot more collaboration, there’s a lot more productivity and there is a lot more time for people to meet for research and things like that.”
Is mobile technology reducing our productivity?
By Katya Hodge
Over the course of the last decade, lawyers have become profoundly dependent on mobile technology. But has it made us more productive?
ITEMS OF VALUE
Pocketbook on Canadian export controls
By Vincent J. DeRose, Marc Babinski, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Gregory A. Tereposky and Gerry Stobo
This handy guide covers what you need to know about Canadian export controls, from what is an export permit to the penalities for non-compliance.
2012 In-House Counsel Barometer Survey
Near unanimous endorsement of in–house counsel as a career path and an almost equally strong view that the work in–house counsel do is valued within their organization are among the key findings contained in the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA) and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP's 2012 In–House Counsel Barometer Survey. Created in conjunction with Vision Critical, the eighth annual survey focuses on the current attitudes and opinions of Canadian corporate counsel. The results of the survey were released on April 16 during the CCCA National Spring Conference. View an electronic version of the survey.
2012 Corporate Counsel Compensation Survey — Coming Soon!
Are you paid fairly for the work you do? Are you curious about the compensation packages for in–house counsel in other organizations? CCCA is partnering with The Counsel Network, Ipsos Reid and the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries to conduct our third installment of the Corporate Counsel Compensation Survey. The 2012 survey results will be released at the CCCA Annual Conference in August. View past compensation surveys.
ADVOCACY
Money laundering legislation must respect solicitor–client privilege
On April 4, Ron Skolrood of Vancouver — a member of the CBA’s Working Group on Proceeds of Crime — appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce during its five year review of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act. He explained that while the CBA supports the government’s attempts to combat money laundering, these efforts must not interfere with the public’s right to consult a lawyer in confidence. The CBA continues to defend solicitor–client privilege on behalf of the profession.
 Letter
Double tax for legal fees and other professional services in Manitoba
The CBA has raised concerns about double tax for legal fees and other professional services now being imposed on taxpayers in Manitoba, arguing it will discourage taxpayers in participating provinces from utilizing the services of Manitoba professionals in respect of their Manitoba legal issues.
Letter
The CBA urges ratification of the ICSID Convention
Canada signed the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention in December 2006 and passed An Act to Implement the ICSID Convention in March 2008. The Convention establishes ICSID as an autonomous international institution whose primary purpose is to provide facilities for conciliation and arbitration of international investment disputes. However, this legislation has not yet been brought into force, awaiting provincial and territorial implementing legislation. For the past five years, CBA and its Branches have urged the federal, provincial and territorial governments to ratify the ICSID Convention and enact legislation to bring it into effect.
Letters
Protecting RRSPs and RRIFs from creditors
The CBA has urged the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to adopt a harmonized legislative framework to protect RRSPs and RRIFs from creditors. As governments across Canada increasingly encourage citizens to save for their retirements, improved legal protection from certain creditors for retirement savings vehicles such as RRSPs and RRIFs is urgently needed, with appropriate limits and exemptions for creditors’ interests. For example, the enforcement of maintenance orders and certain contributions to RRSPs should be exempt from creditor protection.
Letter
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Fall 2012 In-Person Conferences
3rd Annual Access to Information and Privacy Law Conference
(Sept. 14–15, Ottawa — details to come)
2012 Annual Fall Competition Law Conference
(Sept. 20–21, Gatineau, QC — details to come)
2012 National Construction Law Conference
(Sept. 28–29, St. John's)
8th Annual Pan-Canadian Insolvency and Restructuring Law Conference
(Oct. 12, Halifax)
8th Annual CBA Law Firm Leadership Conference
(Oct. 28–30, Calgary)
8th Annual CBA Law, Labour and Employment Law Conference
(Nov. 23–24, Ottawa — details to come)
CCCA PD
CCCA Annual Conference
The CCCA’s Annual Conference runs in conjunction with the CBA’s Canadian Legal Conference, being held August 12-14 in Vancouver.
Paying the Right Price for External Legal Services — Save the Dates
Join Richard Stock of Catalyst Consulting to learn how you can better manage the use of your external legal resources and ensure that you pay the right price for the value you receive. Seminars will be held across the country. (Details coming soon):
Thursday, November 8 — Ottawa
Friday, November 9 — Montreal
Tuesday, November 13 — Halifax
Wednesday, November 14 — Toronto
Monday, November 19 — Calgary
Tuesday, November 20 — Vancouver
Online PD
Understanding the Evolution of Pension Plans: From Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution and Beyond (June 5)
Privacy Breach Notification: Existing and Emerging Requirements and Practices (June 12)
Skilled Lawyer Series II
Advising Corporate Clients on Liquidation and Dissolution (May 30)
Ethics for Litigators (June 6)
Ethics for Business Lawyers (June 13)
|
CCCA MAGAZINE
Dawn raids
A look at how corporate counsel should prepare for a visit from the Competition Bureau — and what they should do when the regulators are at the door.
Crisis team
Whether you’re managing the fallout from a short–term crisis or high stakes litigation, a team approach to crisis communications will always get the best results.
Counsel guiding counsel:
Participants in two successful mentoring partnerships explain what makes it work.
Read more!
NATIONAL MAGAZINE
The hurting profession
Lawyers are stressed sick. They’re succumbing to depression, addiction and burnout and many are afraid to admit they need help, often with tragic consequences. National examines what lies behind this endemic problem and how the profession is trying to help its own.
In the limelight again
Sylvain Lussier is already one of Quebec’s best known litigators. He is now taking on a new high–profile mandate as head prosecutor of Quebec’s Charbonneau Commission.
To conserve and protect
New tax rules take the financial sting out of land trust donations and add a new twist to real estate work.
Read more!
ABOUT THIS BULLETIN
E-Publications editor:
Katya Hodge
Production:
Rose Wilson
Recent issues of the Business and Corporate Edition:
• February 2012
• December 2011
• September 2011
We welcome your feedback If you have any comments on this issue, or are interested in contributing to a future issue, let us know at cbanews@cba.org.
|
