Page - 245 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

245Balancing Risk and Reward in the Time of COVID-19 Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare, in a way that a slow-moving crisis like climate change could not, the cost of tolerating the external- ization of risks that are within the control of corporations to prevent, but which fall outside current corporate law accountability mecha- nisms. It is no longer enough to implore corporate managers to do the right thing when it suits them. The time has come for private eco- nomic interests to be subject to the obligation to be proactive about managing risk where some, or even most, of the impacts will be felt outside the corporation. This is not just about the pandemic. This is about the future of responsible corporate citizenship. While calls for greater recognition of the impact that corporations have beyond their immediate private economic interests have been brewing for some time, I am cautiously optimistic that the convergence of the CBCA amendment and the pan- demic may finally create the impetus for a new vision of the role and purpose of the corporation to take root—one that sees the promotion of the public interest as fundamentally aligned with the successful pursuit of the corporation’s own interests.