www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 19
Additionally, Lau's team worked closely
with IT and the merchandising team at MEC
on new contractual arrangements with
different vendor partners. They have also
been working with external privacy experts to
improve privacy practices.
The legal team at consumer electronics
giant, Best Buy Canada, has been central to
the COVID response, being a part of the retail
industry's discussions about best practices
and helping the internal team to understand
and operationalize the detail of health orders
across the country.
"Safety is always our number one priority,"
says Chris Gouglas, VP, legal services and
procurement at Best Buy Canada. He and his
team navigated many pandemic-related
challenges at Best Buy, including managing
suppliers that had gone bankrupt and
navigating leases when stores were closed.
Throughout the reopening phase, Gouglas
and his team maintained transparent
communications with the retailer's entire
team of 12,500 associates. They created a
strong feedback loop, particularly with
frontline employees, to ensure they under-
stood and felt comfortable with decisions as
they are rolled out.
Legal is part of a COVID-19 task force
established by Holt Renfrew at the start of
the pandemic to monitor new developments
and ensure that operations across the
country comply with ever-changing health
and safety requirements at all levels of
government. The legal team was instrumental
in helping the business ensure store
re-openings protected the health and safety
of customers and employees.
Meanwhile, at Indigo Books & Music Inc.,
