Canadian bankruptcy law reform: A selective research agenda

This article was written for an Insolvency Law Teaching and Research Workshop run by the University of Southern Queensland in Brisbane earlier this year. It gives an account of the commercial bankruptcy law reform process in Canada with particular reference to three issues: (1) the disclaimer, assignment and assumption of executory contracts (including collective bargaining agreements) in insolvency proceedings; (2) the review of pre-bankruptcy transactions (transfers at under value and preferences); and (3) the subordination of claims (subordination agreements, subordination of equity claims and equitable subordination). The discussion of each issue starts with a short account of the current Canadian law, before moving on to deal with the reform proposals and the debate surrounding them. In line with the nature of the workshop, the article incorporates questions for further research, some of which are already under active consideration in Canada. Insolvency law reform is also on the agenda in Australia and New Zealand. Local law reformers may find there are lessons to learn from the Canadian experience. Likewise, there are lessons Canada may learn from law reform experiences in Australia and New Zealand and elsewhere.