Canadian Lawyer InHouse

Q u I Z By Jordan Glick, Associate, and John Wilkinson, Partner, WeirFoulds LLP Governance and regulatory issues There are myriad statutes, regulations, rules, policies, and documents which govern the day-to-day activities of individuals, businesses, institutions, and other organizations operating throughout Canada and abroad. These sample questions may interest a variety of practitioners, and highlight the need to consider all relevant documentation, local laws, and laws of your home jurisdiction. 1 At your friend's request, you attend the annual meeting of an incorporated cottage association (of which she is a member but you are not) carrying her proxy. When you attempt to exercise the proxy you are prevented from doing so by the meeting's secretary because you are "not a member." Is the secretary correct? (a) Yes (b) No (c) It depends 2 You have just been elected to the board of a business corporation and you attend your first meeting. When the first vote is taken, two of the directors are identified as "nonvoting directors." Should you say anything? (a) Yes (b) No 3 You are a director of a junior mining company that is conducting exploration in central Africa. Your company employs several Canadians overseas who require work visas to be issued from the country where exploration is being conducted. As part of the visa application process, your company regularly pays the local officials a small extra fee which, while not part of the visa process itself, ensures the expeditious process of the applications. Is your company allowed to make these payments under Canadian law? (a) Yes (b) No (c) Yes, for now 4 You are the director of a company that operates retail stores across Canada. The company is considering implementing a program whereby customers will be required to provide their driver's licence at the point of sale which is then scanned to record the customer's personal information including their licence number, name, gender, address, and date of birth. The stated goal of the program is to identify customers and deter the fraudulent use of credit cards. What concerns might you have about implementing this program? (a) None at all, the program is fine (b) It is a criminal act to collect personal information (c) It is not necessary to collect licence information to identify customers or deter fraud (d) Without the consent of customers, the program runs afoul of privacy law w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s e october 2013 • 17

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