Canada's Phased-In Bankruptcy Law Reform
![handle is hein.journals/ambank70 and id is 419 raw text is: Canada's Phased-In Bankruptcy
Law Reform
by
Jacob S. Ziegel*
Over the past twenty-five years, most industrialized countries have found
it necessary to revise their bankruptcy laws in the face of rapidly changing
economic and social conditions. Canada was no exception to this rule and, in
fact, began the reform journey substantially earlier than many other coun-
tries. However, in Canada's case the process did not end in the adoption of a
revised act, but was transformed into a phased-in program of reform.
It was not meant to be that way. In the 1960s, the Canadian federal
government established a three member committee to study the Canadian
insolvency laws and to make recommendations for change (Study Commit-
tee). The Study Committee issued its report in 1970,1 in which it recom-
mended a complete overhaul of Canada's bankruptcy legislation. The
government accepted the Study Committee's recommendations and five years
later this resulted in a comprehensive bill, Bill C-60,2 implementing (albeit
with substantial changes) the Study Committee's recommendations. The bill
was then sent to a Senate of Canada Committee (Senate Committee) for
close scrutiny3. The Senate Committee recommended numerous changes but
did not challenge the basic thrust of the bill or the need for revised
legislation.
The government accepted most of the Senate Committee's recommenda-
tions and a new bill was introduced in 1978.4 However, it was not enacted.
*Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Toronto. Copyright 1996 Jacob S. Ziegel. All rights
reserved. The author is grateful to Douglas Cumming, a joint LLB/PhD (Economics) student at the Uni-
versity of Toronto, for research assistance and to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada for financial assistance enabling the author to conduct extensive research in the Canadian bank-
ruptcy law area.
'STUDY COMMITTEE ON BANmpupTcy AND INSOLVENCY LEGIsLATIoN, REPORT OF TiE STUDY
ComMTE oN BAN RUPTcY AND INSOLVENcy LEGIsLATION (1970) [hereinafter REPORT OF THE
STUDY CorArrE].
2lst Sess., 30th Parl. (1975). See R. GoRDoN MARA=, ET AL., THE PRoPosED BANKRUPTcY ACT,
1975 [BmL C-60] WrTH Co MI sArRaIY (1975).
3SENATE CoMT-EE ON BANIncO, TsDi! & COM2MRCE, REPORT OF THE COMMI=TTE oN Ba.L
C-60, Issue No. 72 (1975).
4Bill S-11, 3d Sess, 30th Parl. (1978).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ambank70&div=26&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Canada's Phased-In Bankruptcy Law Reform
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