The Alberta Court of King’s Bench (the Court) has delivered an important decision in the insolvency proceedings of Wolverine Energy and Infrastructure Inc. (WEI), voiding insider payments and imposing personal liability on a former executive. The ruling highlights the significant risks associated with insider transactions during financial distress and clarifies how courts apply statutory remedies under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), the Fraudulent Preferences Act (FPA), and the Statute of Elizabeth (SOE).

In the recent decision of AlphaBow Energy Ltd. (Re) (“AlphaBow”),^[1] the Alberta Court of King’s Bench dismissed AlphaBow’s application to stay the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (“AER”) request for a security deposit for the duration of its restructuring proceedings.

Background

Years after an insolvency proceeding is closed, can a solvent co-lessee/working interest participant (WIP) still be on the hook for their former partner’s share of unpaid Crown royalties? A recent Alberta Court of Appeal decision to allow an appeal in Spartan Delta Corp v Alberta (Energy and Minerals), 2025 ABCA 181 [Spartan Delta], raises concerns around whether the answer to such question can be 'yes'.

Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) is designed to give “honest, but unfortunate debtors” a “fresh start” by automatically staying litigation and dealing with the bankrupt’s debts and liabilities in an orderly fashion. But what if the bankrupt was dishonest? Should they be entitled to have litigation stayed and their debts discharged? The BIA contains tools to address this.

Insolvency and Restructuring Bulletin

The general rule in bankruptcy is that a debtor receives a “fresh start” and is discharged from prior debts, but this is subject to certain exceptions. Subsection 178(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) sets out eight classes of debts that are not released by an order of discharge including an exception for debts that arise out of fraud. In Poonian v.

On March 11, 2024, the Minister of Affordability and Utilities (MUA)

On March 11, 2024, the Alberta Government released two Regulations: the Market Power Mitigation Regulation (MPM Regulation) and the Supply Cushion Regulation (the Supply Cushion Regulat

On December 6, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada heard the appeal of Poonian v British Columbia Securities Commission, 2022 B

In a recent case involving Mantle Materials Group, Ltd. (2023 ABKB 488, “Mantle“), the intersection of environmental obligations and insolvency law in Canada has again come into sharp focus.