The legal meaning of bankruptcy and insolvency law has often remained elusive, even to practitioners and scholars in the field, despite having been enshrined in Canada's Constitution since Confederation. Federal jurisdiction in this area must be measured against provincial powers over property and civil rights, among others. Debt and Federalism traces changing conceptions of the bankruptcy and insolvency power through four landmark cases that form the constitutional foundation of the Canadian bankruptcy system: the 1894 Voluntary Assignments Case, Royal Bank of Canada v Larue in 1928, the 1934 Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act Reference Case, and the 1937 Farmers' Creditors Arrangement Act Reference Case. Together, these decisions ultimately produced the bedrock for modern understandings of bankruptcy and insolvency law. Thomas G.W. Telfer and Virginia Torrie draw on archival and legal sources to analyze the decisions from a historical and doctrinal perspective. This astute book demonstrates that the legal changes introduced by these landmark cases underpin contemporary bankruptcy and insolvency law and scholarship.

About the Author

Thomas G.W. Telfer is a professor and teaching fellow in the Faculty of Law at Western University. He is the author of Ruin and Redemption: A Struggle for a Canadian Bankruptcy Law, 1867-1919 and co-editor of Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law in Canada: Cases, Materials, and Problems. Virginia Torrie is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba. She is the author of Reinventing Bankruptcy Law: A History of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, as well as several articles on bankruptcy and insolvency law.

Reviews
This book is a masterpiece of academic contribution enriching our understanding on the bankruptcy law development in Canada and beyond ... I am overwhelmed by the quality of the in-depth analysis in this book. -- Zhang Zinian, University of Leeds * Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative Blog *

Telfer and Torrie deserve praise; Debt and Federalism is a thought-provoking escape, which should appeal to anyone with an interest in Canadian history, legal or otherwise.

-- Fenner Stewart * Ottawa Law Review *
While the tradition of any book review is to mention a few blemishes, I was hard pressed to find any... This is an excellent, thought-provoking and informative book. -- Vern W. DaRe, University of Windsor * Banking & Finance Law Review *
"Telfer and Torrie deserve praise; Debt and Federalism is a thought-provoking escape, which should appeal to anyone with an interest in Canadian history, legal or otherwise." -- Fenner Stewart * Ottawa Law Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780774867290
Author Thomas G.W. Telfer
Format Paperback
Page Count 284
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 400g