Janis Sarra

Professor
LLM, University of Toronto
Peter A. Allard School of Law

Dr. Janis Sarra was appointed UBC Presidential Distinguished Professor effective May 1, 2014 for a three year term. The UBC Presidential Distinguished Professor recognizes faculty who have made outstanding contributions as scholars and academic leaders. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Sarra served as Director of the Institute.

Dr. Sarra is Professor of Law, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia and founding Director of the National Centre for Business Law. She served as Associate Dean of the Faculty until 2007, with oversight of development, strategic planning, alumni relations and communications. Dr. Sarra’s research and teaching interests are in the areas of corporate finance, banking law, corporate governance, securities law, contracts, commercial insolvency law and law and economics. In 2004, she was awarded the title of Distinguished University Scholar for her scholarship in corporate and securities law. She has published ten books and more than one hundred refereed articles in corporate finance, corporate governance and management, securities law and commercial insolvency law.  

Dr. Sarra also served as Senator of the University of British Columbia from 2003 to 2008. She was previously Director of the Canadian Insolvency Foundation and Director of the Canadian Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals Association. For more than 12 years, Dr. Sarra served as a commercial arbitrator and labour mediator/arbitrator. Dr. Sarra previously served as Vice-Chair of the Ontario Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal, as well as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Social Assistance Review Board. She holds five degrees from the University of Toronto in Political Science, Economics and Law. She previously taught at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Ryerson University School of Business. Former posts include also Board Member, Ontario Labour Relations Board, Senior Research Associate Ontario Legislative Assembly and Executive Assistant, Metropolitan Toronto Municipal Council, and Research Associate, Health Advocacy Unit.

Dr. Sarra’s contributions to public policy development include: World Bank Insolvency and Creditors Rights Task Force, Working Group on Insolvency of Non-Bank Financial Institutions, 2009, Washington, DC; Experts Committee, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group on Corporate Groups and Cross-Border Insolvency Law,  2008-2011, Vienna and New York; Expert Witness, Senate Committee on Banking Trade and Commerce, Review of Insolvency Legislation, February, 2008, Ottawa; Member, Ontario Attorney General's Interministerial Task Force on Administrative Tribunals

 

Primary Recipient Awards

Virtual Roundtables, Janis Sarra, 2021

Janis Sarra
Amanda D. Rodewald
Helen Eastman
Virtual Roundtables
Time for Hope: Developing Innovative Ideas for a Net Zero Carbon Economy in the Post-Pandemic Period

Past efforts to address climate change have been sluggish, but global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate capacity to quickly transform social, environmental, and financial structures around the world. We have witnessed the benefits of government cooperation, business adaptation, and individual action. As the pandemic slows and basic human needs are met, attention will shift to economic recovery. If recovery fails to align with Canada and the world’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we likely will face devastating socioeconomic impacts from climate change. Yet there is opportunity to bring climate into the dialogue and ensure that investments support rather than erode our ability to address climate change. This virtual international research roundtable (e-IRR) will develop ideas for governance, decarbonization, and protection of ecosystems going forward. It includes original works of performative and visual art to inspire innovative thinking. We will develop policy recommendations to send to governments and business organizations.

Time for Hope - Webinar Series recorded on September 16 - 18, 2020
Time for Hope - Virtual Choir performance, directed by Dr. Helen Eastman, original music by Alex Silverman

International Exchanges, Janis Sarra, 2015

Janis Sarra
International Exchanges

Janis Sarra, School of Law and Peter Wall Distinguished Professor, UBC; Conférencier Invité, Collège de France, November 2015

Dr. Sarra gave four lectures in French during her stay:

  1. Les leçons de la crise financière mondiale
  2. Le changement de la réglementation après la crise bancaire mondiale
  3. La protection des parties prenantes vulnérables - l'équité dans les marchés financiers mondiaux
  4. Le rôle de l'Organisation des Nations unies dans l'élaboration de la politique internationale consacrée aux entreprises en difficultés financières

Exploratory Workshops, Janis Sarra, 2011

Janis Sarra
Exploratory Workshops

This workshop was held Jan 19-20, 2012.

This Exploratory Workshop will advance UBC’s mission of ‘education for global citizenship’. Fairness informs the development of shared public policy in an increasingly globalized world. It engages legal frameworks, notions of social interaction and community, and our collective understanding of transparent and accessible processes. Fairness extends beyond process and outcomes; it engages our basic norms of how to interact with one another.  We cannot expect to become global citizens without understanding how fairness informs social, political and legal choices.  We need to know how fairness is culturally, linguistically, socially and economically formed, including what is recognized and what is discounted.  In this, there are both historical and contemporary insights to draw on.
   
This exploratory workshop is aimed at advancing our collective notions of fairness by encouraging participating scholars to look beyond the lens of their own discipline to find new and innovative ways that a deeper understanding of fairness might inform their scholarship. Some linkages are immediately clear, others need the benefit of an intensive discussion that the Exploratory Workshop would provide the opportunity for.

Distinguished Scholars in Residence, Janis Sarra, 2010

Janis Sarra
Distinguished Scholars in Residence

Dr. Sarra’s project at the Institute was an interdisciplinary, multi-stage initiative that explores the basic values of fairness. She believes that an exchange of understandings of ethics and values such as fairness, with colleagues in the arts, may serve to deepen our understanding of the concept of fairness and explore its meaning through a different lens. In December she held a jazz concert and discussion, “Jazz as the Medium: Informing Notions of Fairness.” In the spring of 2011 she directed a “Dance Atelier” on “Articulations of Fairness Through Dance, Dialogue, Space” and chaired a public forum she organized, titled “Creating New Landscapes in Notions of Fairness.” 
 

Early Career Scholars, Janis Sarra, 2001

Janis Sarra
Early Career Scholars

Co-principal Investigator Awards

French Scholars Lecture Series, Catherine Malecki, 2019

Catherine Malecki
Janis Sarra
Peter Arcese
French Scholars Lecture Series

International Research Roundtables, Peter Arcese, 2018

Peter Arcese
Janis Sarra
Amanda D. Rodewald
John Tobin-de la Puente
International Research Roundtables

Promise and Peril: Design and Application of Conservation Finance Models to Biodiversity Conservation, Human Well-being and Sustainability

This roundtable will explore current initiatives and strategies needed to successfully scale-up conservation finance. A comprehensive understanding of barriers and benefits to private sector conservation finance requires engaging researchers from multiple disciplines, jurisdictions and perspectives.  Despite much evidence that private investment has the potential to transform biodiversity conservation and support sustainable livelihoods, many aspects of this emerging field remain poorly understood. This roundtable will engage thought-leaders in ecology, finance, policy, law, and social sciences to identify knowledge gaps, overcome existing hurdles and potential pitfalls. For example, it remains unclear how the outcomes of conservation projects should be articulated; i.e., at what point is re-claimed land 'restored'? A lack of a common framework for monitoring and evaluating such projects points out a critical need to ensure accountability and transparency. It is also unclear at what scale projects must be implemented to deliver sustainable environmental, social and financial outcomes. Likewise, how can accountability frameworks assure investors that projects avoid negative outcomes or externalities sometimes associated with protectionist approaches to land conservation, such as by creating parks that dispossess Indigenous people of land or natural capital. Strategies to minimize costs and overcome hurdles linked to transaction size, market volatility, and risk mitigation are also needed to scale up conservation investment.
Update: November 30, 2020
ESA Report (Ecological Society of America)
"innovative Finance for Conservation: Roles for Ecologists and Practitioners"

International Visiting Research Scholars, Carmel Mevorach, 2017

Carmel Mevorach
Janis Sarra
Lara Boyd
International Visiting Research Scholars

News

Announcements
Issues in Ecology

The Promises and Pitfalls of Private Investment in Conservation

Announcements

Virtual Roundtable Awards Announced

Announcements

2017-18 International Research Roundtables awarded

In the News
Globe and Mail

Canada must finance economic strategies, solutions to climate threat

In the News
The Globe and Mail

The Nortel judgments were fair. Uncontrolled legal costs are not

Announcements
YWCA Vancouver

Dr. Janis Sarra receives YWCA Women of Distinction Award

Announcements

Dr. Janis Sarra appointed as UBC Presidential Distinguished Professor

Announcements

Institute Director publishes new edited book

Videos

Fairness in Financial Markets - Dance and Dialogue

Related Event

Oct 292017
Janis Sarra
Helen Eastman
Hallie Marshall

The Foreclosure Follies

In 2008, the world experienced a seismic financial collapse. Parts of the globe continue to face financial crises. This Brecht-style cabaret with music and comedy explores the big...
Event details