Preface

• Author: Roderick J. Wood
• Profession: Faculty of Law University of Alberta
• Pages: 25-27

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PR EFAC E

There are some who think that insolvency law is a narrow and technical

topic. They are w rong. The breadth of its domain is quite astounding.

A salient character istic of insolvency law is that it cuts across almost

every f‌ield of private law. The rights th at are created in these other

f‌ields of pr ivate law c an no longer be vindicated i n t he usual forum

through the ordinary civil process once insolvency proceedings are

commenced. Instead, the rights are enforced through the insolvency

proceedings, and in some cases the nature and characteristics of the

rights are signif‌icantly t ransformed. The impact of insolvency law on

social and economic conditions both wit hin Canada and worldwide is

equally breathtaking. The fate of the Canadian blood supply system,

the future of our n ational airli nes, the recovery afforded to victim s of

institutional abuse, and the survival of entire communities have all

hung in the balance. If by “technical” what is meant is that i nsolvency

law is sometimes diff‌icult, well then that will be conceded. But who

would reasonably think that it could be otherwise?

One method of organizing a book on insolvency law is to include

chapters that discuss t he effects of i nsolvency law on particular k inds

of legal relationships. This would entail separate chapters dealing with

bankruptcy and family l aw, bankruptcy and landlord-tenant law, and

the like. The weakness of thi s mode of organization is that the anim at-

ing principles of insolvency law tend to fade into the background. I

have chosen to organize this book in a way that will illuminate t he

structure of in solvency law, its aims and objectives, and its founda-

tional principles. Thi s means th at if you want to lear n about the effect

of insolvency on a landlord-tenant relationship you must go to Chapter