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ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE how quickly your shareholders in Germany will find out." McNaughton say that's important because of the prospect of litigation and the way environmental lawsuits have been evolving. The US$18-billion judgment that villagers in Ecuador won against giant Chevron Corp. for contamination of the water and soil underscores how environmental litigation is going global. Chevron has no assets in Ecuador but US lawyers acting for the villagers are seeking enforcement in "keystone" countries such as Canada where the company has real assets and the government has signed treaties agreeing to enforce international awards. The strategy has not proved as easy as lawyers may have hoped with courts in Argentina and Canada saying no. McNaughton believes the next generation of environmental lawsuits will bypass the Ecuadors of the world and go straight to court in the parent company's home jurisdiction. "I believe that's the next step, the next development. Companies usually have major assets in their home jurisdiction and the home jurisdiction may well have a more established legal system and higher environmental standards that plaintiffs can try to hold them to, arguing the company should be operating the same way wherever it is working. "I expect you'll see more of these kinds of suits filed in the US beComplying with environmental requirements is no longer just cause of the historical 'long-arm' about learning local laws. Liability is increasingly ignoring national approach in applying US law in borders BY SANDRA RUBIN other jurisdictions. If it works in the US, I think you'll see people doing the same thing in countries EVER THINK ABOUT the impact of Twitter or Facebook on like Canada and Australia." emerging environmental compliance rules? If you are a mining comCanada may have opened the door this summer in a case called pany executive or one of its advisers, maybe you should. Choc v. HudBay Minerals Inc. in which the Ontario Superior Court Social media is proving a surprisingly effective tool for monitoring of Justice agreed to hear a suit against a mining company for humanthe environmental performance of corporations pulling resources out rights violations that took place abroad. of the ground halfway around the world, says William McNaughton, The precedent-setting decision could have important implications national leader of the Environmental, Municipal, Expropriation and for Canadian companies with foreign operations. Regulatory Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. While the action has yet to be decided on the merits, the fact that "You might wonder how on earth can social media have an impact the court agreed to hear a case against a parent company for the acon globalized environmental compliance of mining companies," Mc- tions of a foreign subsidiary is "troubling," says Lynn Mitchell, an enNaughton says from Vancouver. "The way it works is if you do some- vironmental litigator at Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto. In Canada, thing improper, anywhere in the world, everybody knows. News a parent company cannot be sued under corporate law for the actions travels everywhere. of a subsidiary except in the most exceptional circumstances. "Thanks to social media, wherever you go, people will know what "What's important is what the court didn't do, which was slam the you do. If something happens in a far-flung jurisdiction it's amazing door on it," says Mitchell. "That was the surprise." Environmental Compliance p Goes Home 26 LEXPERT | 2013/14 | WWW.LEXPERT.CA

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