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Brian Armstrong, Bruce Power Terry Badour, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Anna Kinastowski, City of Toronto Fred Krebs, Association of Corporate Counsel Todd Melendy, Celestica Inc. Going beyond compliance C BY KIRSTEN MCMAHON Corporate legal departments are integral in the planning and growth of corporate social responsibility programs and green initiatives. orporate legal departments are playing an increasing role in developing and monitoring corporate social re- sponsibility programs and green initiatives within their companies — providing both valuable legal support and strategic advice. And they aren't just doing all this because it's the right thing to do — it's also good for profits, recruit- ment, and branding. Participants in the third-annual Canadian Lawyer InHouse corporate counsel roundtable, held last month in downtown Toronto, reported their companies are going beyond compli- ance when it comes to CSR and the environment. Roundtable participants were: Brian Armstrong, executive vice president and general counsel of Bruce Power; Terry Badour, execu- tive vice president, law and administration, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International; Anna Kinastowski, city solicitor for the City of Toronto; Fred Krebs, president of the Association of Corporate Counsel; and Todd Melendy, vice president, assis- tant general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Celestica Inc. Topics discussed ranged from external legal fees, pro bono work, alternative billing arrangements, what corporate counsel are looking for in a law firm, and the difficulty in keeping on top of both legal and industry development. Canadian Lawyer is taking at sneak peek at the roundtable discussion — look for complete coverage in the October 2008 issue of Canadian Lawyer InHouse — focusing on the impor- tant and increasing role of the corporate legal department with respect to corporate social responsibility and going green. Be- cause both terms are somewhat undefined, it's important for a corporation to make its own definitions and then follow through, the lawyer say. "I think corporate social responsibility can be defined as an organization that recognizes its obliga- tions to society, in the broadest sense, and seeks not only to serve its shareholders but recognizes the legitimate interests of all of its stakeholders, its employees, its suppliers, its customers, and the environment," says Armstrong of Bruce Power, Cana- da's first private nuclear generating company and the source of more than 20 per cent of Ontario's electricity. Over at Fairmont Hotels, the environment and CSR had been on the luxury hotel chain's radar screen long before Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. With operations around the world, Fairmont is committed to having a positive impact in the communities where it does business. And from recruitment to branding to shareholder profits, Fairmont's Green Partnership program has been good for business, says Badour. "It helps in the recruitment of talented colleagues that we bring into the company every year. The other thing is that we are in the re- tail market, where we are selling to guests; we are trying to get them to stay in our hotels," he says. "It does attract customers, and it does build the right image. And we are in the branding business, and it is important that your brands have the right kind of goodwill attached to it, and part of that is making sure that you appear, and you actually are, socially responsible." At the City of Toronto, it's a different perspective entirely. As the sixth largest government in Canada, the focus isn't just on greening its own processes and infrastructure, but also on making a difference for the city and its citizens at large. "There are a lot of green initiatives coming in, a lot of things that we look at. It is not profits, it is not shareholders, it is the public at large; and how do you best set up policies that lead to certain actions that will be of benefit for the long term?" says Kinas- towski. Melendy of Celestica, which has approximately 30 manufac- turing and design facilities worldwide, says he sees CSR as "a commitment to not just comply with the law but to go beyond www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com SEPTEMBER 2008 45 PHOTO: SANDRA STRANGEMORE