TORONTO, December 2, 2009 -- The Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University and Jantzi-Sustainalytics, with the generous support of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), will host a policy consultation on corporate social reporting and disclosure in Toronto on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009.
The roundtable consultation will convene almost 50 representatives from government agencies such as the Ministry of Finance; nonprofit organizations such as the Social Investment Organization and the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance; and business, including 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; Poonam Puri, Mary Condon, Aaron Dhir and Sara Slinn from Osgoode Hall Law School; and 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 (OSC) to conduct a consultation into best practices on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting standards. On Sept.18, 2009, a roundtable on environmental and governance issues was held at the OSC; the Hennick Centre for Business and 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 roundtable, the Hennick Centre and Jantzi-Sustainalytics have prepared a discussion paper, available at the Hennick Centre Web site: http://www.hennickcentre.ca/documents/discussionpaper.pdf
The Hennick Centre for Business and 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 roundtable is part of a series of programs hosted by the Centre on issues at the intersection of law, business and public policy.
For further information, please contact:
Archana Sridhar
Associate Director
Hennick Centre for Business and Law
416-736-5490
Virginia Corner
Communications Manager
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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