On October 28, 2013, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) announced that it had reached a settlement with the former directors and officers of Northstar Aerospace whereby those former directors and officers agreed to pay $4.75 million for costs associated with the remediation of contaminated lands owned by the now-bankrupt company. The Environmental Review Tribunal approved the Minutes of Settlement at the hearing held on October 28.
The Canadian online dating service PlentyofFish.com had been attempting to purchase the 43 million member database of bankrupt dating site True Beginnings. Information in the database included dates of birth, usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, as well as dating profiles. The database purchase price was set at $700,000. The Texas Attorney General, however, filed an objection with the bankruptcy court on the grounds that the purchase would be a violation of True Beginnings’ privacy policy, since members had not agreed to have their information sold.
In October 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decisions in Nortel Networks Corporation (Re) and Northstar Aerospace Inc. (Re). These decisions throw yet another wrench into the gears for owners and past owners of contaminated properties and the directors and officers of corporations owning such properties.
Background to Nortel
On October 28th, 2013 the Ministry of the Environment (“MOE”) and the former directors and officers of Northstar Aerospace Canada (“Northstar”) reached a $4.75 million settlement for the remediation of a property owned by Northstar in Cambridge, Ontario.
As we previously reported, the Quebec government last month issued an omnibus cleanup order respecting the Lac-Mégantic disaster, including orders of questionable validity against shareholders of parties which may bear primary responsibility.
In a decision rendered on August 15, 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal in Re Nortel denied a motion for leave to appeal in a CCAA proceeding, reiterating the stringent test for leave to appeal in such circumstances. More importantly for our purposes, the court reiterated the necessity for a motion for leave to adduce fresh evidence where the moving party seeks to rely upon such evidence.
I am tempted to draft a blog post listing the top ten ironies of bankruptcy law. There is no shortage of contenders for that list, and vying for the top spot would be the simple fact that you need a lot of money to go bankrupt. Bankruptcy (or its cousins, creditors arrangement and administration -- but not receivership, the economies of which could also feature in a blog post of its own) involves an influx of lawyers, accountants, and other professionals who negotiate and bicker their way through the company’s balance sheet, all while charging by the hour.
On September 4, 2013, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in the sentence appeal in R. v. Metron Construction Corporation1 (“Metron”). Government prosecutors had appealed against the C$200,000 fine Metron received on July 13, 2012, after the company pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal negligence causing death.
Occupational Health and Safety Act charges could proceed against an insolvent company even though it had obtained protection from its creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”), an Ontario judge has decided.
Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. was charged with offences under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to two separate incidents, one in which a worker was injured in the company’s wood-handling department, and one in which a worker died after an explosion blew part of the roof off of a mill.