McMillan LLP

December 2023 TCA Green Ambassador

McMillan LLP

Buttcon

McMillan is a leading business law firm serving public, private and not-for-profit clients across key industries in Canada, the United States and internationally. With recognized expertise and acknowledged leadership in major business sectors, we provide solution-oriented legal advice through our offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Hong Kong. Our firm values – respect, teamwork, commitment, client service and professional excellence – are at the heart of McMillan’s commitment to serve our clients, our local communities and the legal profession.

As external legal counsel, we support clients engaging in and developing environmentally sustainable and innovative construction practices, including energy savings and the use of more green/carbon capturing materials. We provide advice to clients on these issues by leveraging subject matter experts across the Firm in practice and industry groups such as Environmental, Construction, Infrastructure and P3 and Renewable Energy, among others. This means that our lawyers practice together, seamlessly employing the right expertise and teams to deliver superior service and advice that enables clients to fully comply with the myriad of legal requirements related to the environment that arise in the context of a construction project.

Internally, McMillan is committed to making a positive impact on the environment and be a leader in this critical area. McMillan recently embarked on a review of its current sustainability program, a process that engages key stakeholders in identifying and prioritizing the most significant sustainability issues relevant to the company's operations. Through the review, McMillan will seek the opinions and insights of all Firm members, which are pivotal in this effort. A new sustainability program will be developed and communicated to Firm members following this review.

Externally, McMillan has made a positive impact on the environment through its work as external legal counsel. A selection of our work in this regard includes:

- Advising a vast array of clients in the renewable energy industry, including in energy transition finance; carbon capture (use and sequestration) / carbon trading; electric mobility / electric vehicles; nuclear power; energy demand-side management; fuel cells; energy transition minerals; renewable natural gas and low carbon fuels; circular economy solutions (including waste-to-value processes) and much more.

- Acting for a federal Crown Corporation in connection with its financing of numerous energy efficiency retrofit projects to achieve decarbonization and modernization of and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at commercial, residential and multi-residential buildings.

- Advising clients on various environmental compliance and approval matters affecting their operations as well as environmental risk, liability and due diligence issues at all stages of business transactions, including real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and financing.

- Representing and defending clients in complex recent and historical contaminated land disputes as well as regulatory inspections, investigations, orders and quasi-criminal prosecutions in connection with federal, provincial and municipal environmental legislation.

For more information, please visit: http://www.mcmillan.ca

Trump Executive Order Launches Trade War

Important Update: President Trump Pauses Tariff’s on Canada for at Least 30 Days

Dear TCA members,

As you know, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods over the weekend that will take effect tomorrow morning and have enormous economic consequences. Prime Minister Trudeau has predictably released a list of goods subject to a retaliatory tariff and so begins the trade war. The impacts of the U.S trade tax and the Trudeau retaliatory countermeasures will be considerable and will absolutely affect the Canadian construction industry.

This trade war is not going away any time soon. Trump is prone to drama as we know and his threats relating to NAFTA during his last term as President were bad but not devastating by the time the new trade agreement was signed. Since then, the U.S. trade deficit with Canada has grown from $31 billion to closer to $100 billion. That’s the real reason for the trade war. The cross-border fentanyl distribution argument was a means to an end and was presumably used to justify the emergency measures legislation. Our best guess is that this new trade war will have severe and enduring impacts on TCA members.

In the coming months, news channels will be filled with stories about trade wars and their impacts but likely not satisfy your need to understand how your day-to-day businesses will be affected. Our focus at TCA will be on sharing industry-specific impacts including strategic best practices which we commit to share with TCA members as new information becomes available.

In the interest of ensuring that we are sharing meaningful and helpful information, TCA is already negotiating with an international trade strategy consultant in the hope that a strategic partnership with trade impact experts will add genuine and unique value for TCA members. I also serve on the Board of the Canadian Construction Association with whom I have been communicating 24-7 since the executive order was signed on Saturday. Rest assured that CCA is in constant contact with the federal government to analyze the Trudeau countermeasures and influence the go-forward strategy of trade negotiators. That too will be shared as it happens.

In the interim, please don’t hesitate to share your views and/or ask for assistance. We exist to serve the needs of our members and the road ahead will indeed be challenging.

Respectfully,
John Mollenhauer
President and CEO

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