The Jay & Barbara Hennick Centre for Business & Law at York University and Jantzi-Sustainalytics, with support from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, will host a policy consultation on corporate social reporting and disclosure today from 8:30am to 4pm at the offices of Stikeman Elliott LLP in downtown Toronto.
The invitation-only round table consultation will convene some 50 representatives from provincial government agencies and ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance; nonprofit organizations such as the Social Investment Organization and the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance; and business, including companies from the mining, energy and banking sectors. Participants will engage in sessions on the scope for regulation of social reporting, including topics such as labour rights, local community development and product safety. They will also discuss challenges facing issuer companies in disclosure of such information and potential options for reform.
Several faculty members from Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business will be in attendance: Hennick Centre director Ed Waitzer; Professors Poonam Puri, Mary Condon, Aaron Dhir and Sara Slinn from Osgoode Hall Law School; and Professors Andy Crane, Bryan Husted and Alan Richardson from the Schulich School of Business.
This consultation is based on Ontario Cabinet Minister Laurel Broten’s April 2009 non-binding resolution calling on the Ontario Securities Commission to conduct a consultation into best practices on corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance reporting standards. On Sept. 18, a round-table on environmental and governance issues was held at the Ontario Securities Commission. The Hennick Centre for Business & Law is organizing this subsequent roundtable consultation with Jantzi-Sustainalytics as a companion to that discussion. The consultation will lead to a report and recommendations for Ontario’s minister of finance.
In preparation for the round table, the Hennick Centre and Jantzi-Sustainalytics have prepared a discussion paper, available at the Hennick Centre Web site.
The Hennick Centre for Business & Law is the first Canadian centre to promote and develop joint business and law scholarship and education. The centre is a joint initiative of Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business. This policy round table is part of a series of programs hosted by the centre on issues at the intersection of law, business and public policy.