Canadian Lawyer InHouse

27 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JULY 2016 that does not mean the market in this sector is stagnant, says Bryan Auge, senior legal ad- viser, marketing and corporate development, at Cameco Corp. "As one of the largest buy- ers, there is still a lot of opportunity for ac- quisitions. There can be advantages during a downturn in the market," says Auge. "There is some belt tightening. But this is not like Alberta. There is still a lot of work going on," he adds. The Saskatoon-based cor- poration, which is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, is also looking at new businesses and potential acquisitions in the alternative energy fi eld, says Auge. In Manitoba, much of the in-house legal work is similar in nature to that of its col- leagues in Saskatchewan and the rest of the country, with the increased focus on com- pliance. "That is a growth area," in terms of the demand for legal expertise, says Donald MacDonald, senior vice president and general counsel at IGM Financial Inc. in Winnipeg. "It is not necessarily a case of more regu- lation, but you have to do things better," says MacDonald, who is also chief compliance offi cer for the fi nancial services company. While he says Canada came through the fi - nancial crisis in 2008 relatively well, there is increased scrutiny on this sector. "More attention also has to be paid to international developments," notes MacDonald, because of the impact events might have on the Ca- nadian market. IGM Financial has about $133 billion in total assets under management, through Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial, and Investment Planning Counsel. As part of the increased focus on compli- ance, the company hired Rhonda Goldberg last year to fi ll a new position as vice presi- dent of regulatory affairs. Goldberg was a senior lawyer at the Ontario Securities Commission for many years before taking on the position at IGM Financial. "It is a more formalized approach" to compliance and regulatory matters, ex- plains MacDonald. The company has nearly a dozen in-house lawyers and tries to do as much of the legal work as possible internally. "While it is not large by bank standards, we have good sup- port and resources," says MacDonald. Compliance and protecting the privacy of clients is made more complex because of the constant changes in technology, says Rennie Stonyk, legal counsel at the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation. "We are still going through a lot of changes, including in our IT department," she says. "One of our biggest issues is keeping up with technology in our industry. We need to stay ahead of it, to pass on the savings to our clients, says Stonyk. The changes in technology include ad- vances in automobiles and computer-like devices in new cars. "Vehicles are becoming much more complex. Repairs are much more costly. We need to understand the technol- ogy," she says. MPI is a provincial Crown corporation that provides basic, compulsory automobile insurance to drivers in the province. "The There is some belt tightening. But this is not like Alberta. There is still a lot of work going on. BRYAN AUGE, Cameco Corp. ld. h l d i h Untitled-4 1 2016-06-03 11:17 AM

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