Century Services Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), [2010] S.C.C.A. No. 259, on appeal from (2009) 319 D.L.R. (4th) 735 (BCCA)

The union on behalf of the unionized employees of Ted Leroy Trucking Ltd., the bankrupt employer, had applied to the B.C.S.C. for directions and obtained a decision of that Court that the “wages” protected under the WEPPA “superpriority” for unpaid employees included amounts paid by the employer to third parties on behalf of the employees.

As we previously wrote about (Volume 1, Issue 3, December 2008), the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (“WEPPA”) came into force on July 7, 2008 as part of a comprehensive reform package to the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (“BIA”). WEPPA was designed to protect the wages of employees terminated as a result of a bankruptcy or receivership. Employees could now claim up to $3,000 worth of wages earned in the six months immediately preceding the bankruptcy or receivership, as well as a $2,000 super priority claim on all current assets of their employer.

After years of waiting, significant amendments to the Canadian regime of bankruptcy and insolvency law were declared in force as of September 18, 2009 (Amendments).

Insolvency law amendments were declared in force as of September 18, 2009 (the “Amendments”). The Amendments were contained in bills which received Royal assent on November 25, 2005 and on December 14, 2007, but the Amendments were not proclaimed into force until now.

Caisse populaire Desjardins de l’Est de Drummond v. Canada, 2009 SCC 29 (Can LII) (S.C.C.); on appeal from 2006 FCA 366 (Can LII)

The Caisse granted Camvrac a line of credit of up to $297,000. Camvrac deposited $200,000 with the Caisse subject to a “Security Given Through Savings” agreement (the “Savings Agreement”) and agreed:

(i) to have the $200,000 on deposit as long as the line of credit was outstanding; and

Re Ted LeRoy Trucking Ltd. and 383838 B.C. Ltd. (2009), 52 C.B.R. (5th) 225, 2009 BCSC 41 (B.C.S.C.)

Ted LeRoy Trucking Ltd. obtained protection under the CCAA and PriceWaterhouseCooper was its monitor. The debtor tried to restructure and failed, and was assigned into bankruptcy with PriceWaterhouseCooper as its trustee.

No doubt by now, every creditor knows of the new protections given to employees in the face of a company’s insolvency as a result of the enactment of the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (“WEPPA”) and related amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) on July 7, 2008.

Re Friedman (2008), 49 C.B.R. (5th) 131 (Ont. S.C.J. in bankruptcy)

Mr. Friedman assigned his rights to royalties he would receive from SOCAN, the Canadian copyright collective that administers royalties for tis members, to his music publisher, to secure loan advances to him from the publisher.