20 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse
SPECIAL REPORT SPECIAL REPORT
chain partners. We haven't been tapped to do
that yet, but we're ready, willing and able, if we
get that call.
INHOUSE: How are you navigating
employment and labour laws as the COVID
vaccine rolls out in Canada and employees
gradually start returning to office spaces?
NOEL: With all of the changes that have been
made, we had to be quite agile. Again, safety is
always the priority and we have heavily
invested in protecting people on the front
lines and those needing to be in the office. We
want to return to the office when it's safe to
do so. There will be lots of guidelines and
COVID, there's a lot more personal information
out there. I'm always watching what's going on
with respect to trade and preparing and
watching for changes. There are the macro
effects of trade agreements on supply chains
generally but also on crossing the border.
I'm always looking at the regulations around
Canada with border security.
Occupational health and safety is another
concern. There's some new changes to the
workplace violence and harassment regula-
tions so my team has been working on the
policies and procedures and how we're going
to implement all those changes. Lawyers are
always keeping our finger on the pulse of the
protocols. I think once COVID is under control,
then we'll have a better path forward. We're
preparing for all those things in terms of
vaccines and testing and we're taking all of
our guidance from public health authorities.
INHOUSE: What regulatory challenges do
you anticipate dealing with in 2021?
NOEL: Coming out of a pandemic, we're
always cognizant of changing regulations.
Then there are the pre-COVID regulatory
things that we were always expecting to deal
with. I think we're probably going to see a
continuation of the evolution of privacy
legislation in North America and, because of