On November 25, 2005 the federal government, realizing that an election was about to be called, encouraged the House of Commons and the Senate to pass, without debate, what was then known as Bill C-55, now known as Chapter 47 of the Statutes of Canada.
Because Bill C-55 was passed with virtually no opportunity for corrections or changes, then Liberal Industry Minister David Emerson advised the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade & Commerce, by letter, that the new rules will not come into force before June 30, 2006 to allow the Senate to review the Bill and make changes. In other words the new rules were law, but they were not yet being followed.
Unfortunately, since new bankruptcy legislation is not a priority in Canada, progress, up until December 2007, was slow. On December 11, 2006, The Minister of Labour, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, tabled in the House of Commons a Ways and Means motion to introduce an Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Wage Earner Protection Program Act and chapter 47 of the Statutes of Canada, 2005. This Bill was known as Bill C-62. The Bill was passed at Third Reading by the House of Commons on June 14, 2007, and received First Reading in the Senate on the same day. However, the Bill died when Parliament was prorogued on September 17, 2007, ending that Session of Parliament.
On October 29, 2007 the government introduced Bill C-12, an exact copy of the previous Parliamentary session's Bill C-62, and the Bill had three readings and was passed on October 29 and referred to the Senate.
First Reading was held on October 30, 2007 in the Senate, and Second Reading happened on November 15, 2007; very limited debate was held in the Senate, before the Bill was referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce for detailed review. The first Committee Meeting was held on November 29, 2007.
On February 7, 2008 Doug Hoyes and Ted Michalos appeared as expert witnesses before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce to provide their testimony on proposed changes to Canadian bankruptcy laws.
On July 7, 2008, with no prior warning, the government implemented three of the proposed changes: reduction in the student loan discharge period, increased exemptions for RRSPs, and post bankruptcy tax refunds became an asset of the bankruptcy estate.
The team at Hoyes Michalos continued to wait for the implementation of the new rules. While we supported some of the new rules and disagreed with others, our biggest complaint was the uncertainty of not knowing when the new rules would be implemented. In May, 2009 Douglas Hoyes wrote to the Prime Minister and the Industry Minister asking that they end this uncertainty. On May 29 the Prime Minister's office responded that they were looking in to it. On June 16, 2009 the Industry Minister also responded by saying "we are working on it."
Then, with no prior notice, in the middle of the summer, on August 19, 2009 the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy sent an e-mail to all trustees advising that: "The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) is pleased to inform you that on September 18, 2009, the remaining amendments contained in chapter 36 of the Statutes of Canada, 2007, and chapter 47 of the Statutes of Canada, 2005 (c.36 and c.47) will come into force."
As a result, with one month's notice, all of the remaining new rules come into force on September 18, 2009.
To determine how these new rules will affect you, please contact our Ontario bankruptcy offices for further information on bankruptcy reform.
Our bankruptcy offices in Ontario
Contact a bankruptcy trustee
About bankruptcy trustees at Hoyes Michalos