Kelly Bourassa

Some of the cases on the public record in which Kelly has been involved include representing:

• Counsel to the court-appointed monitor, FTI Consulting Canada Inc., in the CCAA proceedings of Coalspur Mines (Operations) Ltd.

• The lending syndicate in the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) restructuring proceedings of Source Energy Services Canada LP and its affiliates, including restructuring its US$157-million secured notes and amending and restating its C$80-million credit facility (oil and gas services)

• Jupiter Resources Inc. in its successful CBCA reorganization proceedings wherein Tourmaline Oil Corp. acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Jupiter for total consideration of approximately C$60-million (oil and gas)

• The lending syndicate in the Alberta Business Corporations Act (ABCA) restructuring proceedings of Stuart Olson Inc. wherein Stuart Olson combined with Bird Construction Inc., pursuant to an arrangement agreement for aggregate consideration of $96.5-million (construction)

• The court-appointed receiver and foreign representative, Ernst & Young Inc., in the cross border (receivership/Chapter 15) proceedings of BOS Solutions Ltd., BOS Solutions Inc., BOS LeaseCo LLC, BOS Solutions Real Estate Inc. and BOS USHoldCo Inc. (oil and gas services and environmental solutions)

• The lending syndicate in the complex restructuring proceedings of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. (CBCA/CCAA), including certain precedential litigation relating to eligible financial contracts and priority disputes (oil and gas)

• The secured lending syndicate in the cross border (receivership/Chapter 15) proceedings of a group of oil and gas exploration and production companies, including a credit bid through a combined ABCA arrangement and BIA proposal (oil and gas)

• The Insolvency Institute of Canada, as intervener, at both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal of Alberta, in respect of the priority of deemed trusts in the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings of Canada North Group Inc., et al. (oil and gas services)

• The term loan agent, as Canadian counsel in the cross border (CCAA/Chapter 11) restructuring proceedings of Hollander Sleep Products, LLC one of the largest suppliers of pillows, mattress pads and other bedding products in the U.S. to the retail industry (manufacturing)

• The plan administrator for the Sears Canada Inc. Registered Pension Plan in the CCAA liquidation of Sears Canada (retail)

• The debtors, as Canadian counsel, in the multi-jurisdictional (sauvegarde/Chapter 11/CCAA) restructuring proceedings of the CGG Group (oil and gas services)

• The debtors in the CBCA and CCAA proceedings of Lightstream Resources Ltd., 1863359 Alberta Ltd., LTS Resources Partnership, 1863360 Alberta Ltd. and Bakken Resources Partnership (oil and gas) and the CCAA proceedings of Bloom Lake General Partner Limited, Quinto Mining Corporation, 8568391 Canada Limited, Cliffs Québec Iron Mining ULC (formerly, Cliffs Québec Iron Mining Limited), Bloom Lake Railway Company Limited and The Bloom Lake Iron Ore Mine Limited Partnership (mining)

• The lending syndicate, as Canadian counsel in the cross border (CCAA/Chapter 11/Chapter 15) restructuring proceedings of the Sanjel Group (oil and gas services), the Quicksilver Canada entities, the Parallel Energy group and Argent Energy group (oil and gas)

• The senior secured lender in connection with a more than C$150-million debt investment in Laricina Energy Ltd., a major Canadian oil sands development and production company (oil sands)

• The senior lenders in the receivership proceedings of Spyglass Resources Corp. et al., Twin Butte Energy Ltd., COGI Limited Partnership and Redwater Energy Corp. (oil and gas)

• The court-appointed receivers of Questfire Energy Corp., Hyperion Exploration Corp., Ivanhoe Energy Inc., Palliser Oil & Gas Corp., Waldron Energy Corporation (oil and gas); Ladacor AMS Ltd. et al (construction); and Phenomenome Discoveries Inc. et al. (pharma)

Kelly is recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

• The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory – 2013–2023 (Insolvency & Financial Restructuring)

• IFLR1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial and Corporate Law Firms – 2022 (Restructuring and Insolvency)
  

• Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business – 2017–2022 (Restructuring & Insolvency)

• The Legal 500 Canada – 2016–2022 (Recommended – Restructuring & Insolvency)

• The Best Lawyers in Canada – 2015–2022 (Insolvency and Financial Restructuring)

• Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business – 2014–2022 (Restructuring & Insolvency)

• Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys – 2014–2015, 2017–2020 and 2022 (National Litigation Star: Insolvency; Provincial Litigation Star: Alberta – Insolvency)

• Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer – Independently Rated Lawyers – 2020–2021 (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

• Who's Who Legal: Thought Leaders – 2017–2018 and 2020–2021 (Restructuring & Insolvency)

Kelly was awarded the first Annual Honourable Lloyd Houlden Research Fellowship from the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) for her working paper on eligible financial contracts in Canadian insolvency legislation.

Kelly is the western editor of the Canadian Bankruptcy Reports and has authored and co-authored articles and papers on various insolvency-related topics for continuing legal education programs, conferences and seminars with a particular interest in derivatives and eligible financial contracts.

Kelly is a member of the board of directors of the Insolvency Institute of Canada, the board of directors of the ARIL Society, the Turnaround Management Association executive board and a member and past-president of the Northwest Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. She is also a member of the International Insolvency Institute, the Association of Corporate Growth - Calgary Branch, The Law Society of Alberta and the Law Society of Ontario.

In 2010, 2014 and 2015, Kelly was retained by Industry Canada as a board member for the Licensed Insolvency Trustee Oral Board of Examination in Calgary, Alberta.

• Co-author: Expanding Court Discretion in Court-Approved Arrangements Under the Alberta Business Corporations Act
  Blakes Bulletin on Restructuring & Insolvency, June 3, 2022.
• Co-author: Alberta Energy Regulator Introduces New Requirements for Acquiring and Holding Energy Licences and Approvals
  Blakes Bulletin on Restructuring & Insolvency / Energy Regulatory / Environmental Law / Financial Services, May 3, 2021.
• Co-author: Amendments to the CCAA and BIA in Force November 1, 2019
  Blakes Bulletin on Restructuring & Insolvency, November 1, 2019.

• Panellist: Q1 2022: Questioning established case law?
  Insolvency Insider (virtual), April 26, 2022.
• Co-presenter: Restructuring 2022: National and International Trends
  Blakes Business Class Webinar, January 26, 2022.
• Co-presenter: Export ban on the US Bankruptcy Code?
  INSOL International, INSOL Virtual 2021, June 10, 2021.
• Co-presenter: Canada/US Cross-Border Oil & Gas Insolvencies
  Lex Mundi, Energy Restructuring and Insolvency Virtual Series: Cross-Border Oil & Gas Insolvencies, March 15, 2021.
• Co-chair: Annual Review of Insolvency Law Conference
  Annual Review of Insolvency Law, Virtual Conference, February 26, 2021.
• Panellist: Restructuring and Insolvency: A Cross-Country Year in Review
  Blakes Business Class Webinar, January 27, 2021.
• Speaker: What to Expect When Insolvency Crosses the Border
  Episode 11, The Blakes Continuity Podcast, September 21, 2020.
• Panellist: Canada North: Deemed Trust v Priming Charges
  Annual Review of Insolvency Law, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 7, 2020.
• Panellist: Restructuring and Insolvency: A Cross-Country Year in Review
  Blakes Business Class Webinar, January 21, 2020.
• Panellist: Retail Insolvencies - The Perspectives of the Insolvency Professionals, Lenders, Landlords and Tenants
  Canadian Bar Association National Insolvency Law Conference, Banff, Alberta, November 7-9, 2019.

• Quoted: Restructuring in a Challenging Economy
  Article by Zena Olijnyk, Lexpert Special Edition: Finance and M&A 2021, April 13, 2021.

Admitted to Alberta Bar – 2001
Admitted to Ontario Bar – 2000
LLM, Osgoode Hall Law School – 2007
JD, University of Western Ontario – 1998
BA (Hon.), University of Waterloo – 1995