What this means for the shareholders of a business facing insolvency

Good afternoon.

Please find our summaries of the civil decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of July 4, 2022.

The Alberta Court of Appeal (the “ABCA”)’s anticipated decision in Manitok Energy Inc (Re), 2022 ABCA 117 (“Manitok”) confirmed that the sales proceeds of a debtor estate’s valuable petroleum and natural gas assets that are subject environmental claims including, notably, abandonment and reclamation obligations, must first be applied to abandonment and reclamation obligations, even where such assets are “unrelated” to the abandonment and reclamation obligations.

[This paper originally presented at the Manitoba Bar Association Mid-Winter Conference, January, 2003. It was updated and revised for the 2011 Pitblado Lectures and again updated in June, 2022.]

In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the sale proceeds of a property held in trust can be applied to a beneficiary’s bankruptcy obligations.

Overview and Why This Case Matters

Petersen v.

Overview

The Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (ABCA) received an overhaul this week. Bill 84, Business Corporations Amendment Act, 2021 came into force on May 31, 2022. That Bill introduced several changes to the ABCA. These amendments are intended to modernize Alberta's corporate legislation to attract investment and make Alberta the leading province for corporations in Canada.

This overview is intended as an introductory summary to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Canada’s principal statute for the reorganization of a large insolvency corporation. The CCAA applies in every province and territory of Canada, and even purports to have worldwide jurisdiction.