Details

On May 11, 2018 Charles J. Birchall will be presenting at the CCLA 24th Annual East Region Solicitors Conference.

The conference will be taking place at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello in Montebello, Quebec.

Charles presentation is titled: Troubling Personal and Environmental Liabilities for Directors and Officers.

Former directors and officers of Northstar Aerospace paid $4.75 million to be released from a clean-up order issued against them by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.  The order was issued even though the Ministry acknowledged that while the directors were not personally at fault, they were still responsible for the clean-up by virtue of their position(s) in Northstar.

This is just one recent example of the serious personal risks faced by directors and officers from environmental enforcement.  Environmental legislation imposes on all directors and officers a duty to exercise all reasonable care to prevent a variety of violations.  Preparing for and establishing a “due diligence” defence can be difficult. Corporate indemnification of directors and officers provides limited protection at best. And, at this point, directors’ and officers’ insurance policies often do not respond to environmental issues.

For more information on the conference and to register, please click here.