Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1336129
24 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse SPECIAL REPORT "No matter how good we think we are today, we always believe we can be better tomorrow and so we're always looking for advancement and improvement." Rob Van Walleghem, Trans Mountain Corporation record of exceptional operational performance. Our legal department supports all of those things as well as the HR-related issues and any litigation claims or disputes. On the corporate governance side, we have a very sophisticated, complex, experienced board and we have many committees. They are all very busy and active, so it requires a lot of administration. On the project expansion side, the same applies so it's a multi-faceted approach. INHOUSE: How do you plan to deal with risk management and compliance in the year ahead? VAN WALLEGHEM: We have a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the Canada Energy Regulator that gives us the right to build this pipeline. It gave us 157 conditions, including commitments to comply with so we have an extensive regulatory team that monitors the compliance with all those conditions and commitments, so that's an ongoing task. Also, the project has a unified hazard risk management procedure, which is a living document as it's continually evaluated and improved upon in all areas of regulatory compliance, health and safety and environmen- tal matters. No matter how good we think we are today, we always believe we can be better tomorrow and so we're always looking for advancement and improvement in those areas. We also have a fairly sophisticated tracking system for all compliance-related legislation throughout the company. When there are changes in any legislation, we are alerted and the subject matter experts in the company then review and develop a plan for any changes we may need to make to ensure compliance. INHOUSE: What projects and initiatives will the legal department be focused on in 2021? VAN WALLEGHEM: Well, in addition to continuing what we're already doing, which is in itself a lot, I think that one of the other unique things about our company is not only are we a Crown corporation but we're a Crown corporation that is up for sale every day. Everyone's aware that the govern- ment's intention is to sell the company, once it is de-risked, to the extent that a transac- tion can occur. We'll be planning as any company would for a transaction. As we operate the business and the expansion project, we're also anticipating a transaction that we'll be working on. While the company spent a number of years preparing for construction, we are now preparing for the integration into an expanded pipeline system so we're planning for all of the business processes and all of the roles and responsibilities that will be required if an expanded pipeline is ready to go when expected at the end of 2022. INHOUSE: What is your approach to working with external counsel? VAN WALLEGHEM: My approach is to make sure that, like in any project, you want to pull the right tool out of the toolbox. I feel that we are very lucky to have experienced exceptional external counsel. My approach is to ensure that we provide external counsel with clear instruction. I think external counsel appreciate clear instruction, especially with the complexi- ty of the matters we have here at our company. We like to bring them in early when we need them. We have a long-standing relationship with our preferred service providers and so they're very well integrated into a lot of our files already. When we forecast legal demand, they're very helpful and very responsive so we try not to surprise our external counsel with fire drills. We like to have a lot of runway for the things we need to accomplish. INHOUSE: What goals do you have for your legal team in 2021? VAN WALLEGHEM: We plan to continue to work safely and sustainably. In this age of COVID, when your commute has gone from two hours or 20 minutes to 20 steps, we need to be cognizant of the fact that, for many people, there may not be any distinction between office and home. When you're accommodating everyone who has issues they need to deal with during the day — whether it's kids home from school or whatever — that can result in extended work hours for everybody. We are looking at renewing and refreshing our service-level agreements with each department to make sure that we remain aligned with what they need and they remain aligned with our expectations and our ability to respond to the legal requirements of the company. I think doing that in a sustainable way is critical under the circumstances we're all living in right now. The health and safety of the members of my department and our company as a whole are my primary concern. My number one goal is to maintain a produc- tive and sustainable healthy legal department in 2021.