Prior to returning to Osgoode Hall Law School for doctoral studies, I spent over 30 years with the Weston Group of Companies in a number of different senior legal positions. Most recently, I was the general counsel of Wittington Investments, Limited, the family holding company, and prior to that, general counsel of Wittington’s public subsidiaries, George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies Limited. I am now pursing a life-long ambition of teaching and scholarly research.
I graduated from Acadia University with a Business Administration (Hons) degree and from Dalhousie University with JD and MBA degrees. I received graduate law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
As part of my general counsel duties at the Weston Group, I played an active role in many of the Group’s largest transactions and strategic matters during my time there. These included the sale of the Neilson Dairy business and the Neilson/Cadbury confectionery business, the formation of President’s Choice Bank and the launch of PC Financial, the sale of the Weston Foods US business, the sale of the Fisheries Division, the IPO of Choice Properties REIT, the acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart, the successful ruling rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Glenhuron Bank tax case and, most recently, the sale of the Selfridges European Luxury Department Store business.
Research
My research will investigate Canada’s corporate laws and governance frameworks and how corporations can be better governed and regulated in this ever-evolving business environment. My research will address policy questions around reform and the type of corporate law and governance regulation appropriate for Canada based, in part, on a comparative analysis of approaches in other jurisdictions. I am particularly interested in how the judiciary, legislators, and policy makers in the US, UK and EU are addressing issues around sustainability, stakeholder governance, corporate democracy and the regulation of corporate purpose and ESG.