J Robert Verdun is a Canadian activist shareholder-rights advocate, an author and a former editor of a weekly paper.
In 1990, the Independent was the winner of the Michener Award "for its blanket coverage of a prolonged legal battle over contamination of the Elmira-St. Jacobs municipal water supply.
Amongst his accomplishments: Verdun has been successful in convincing several public companies to produce more transparent financial statements and allow more democracy in board elections.
Verdun published a book, The Fox in Charge of the Biggest Henhouse in Canada,[13] which is not available for sale after a defamation suit was brought against Verdun by Robert Astley, who was chair of the board of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and a director of the Bank of Montreal.
The book cannot be published, circulated or promoted due to a June 14, 2011, Order of the Superior Court of Justice in the case of Astley v.