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ARTICLE · 01 DECEMBER 2015

SCC To Weigh In On The Solicitor-Client Privilege Dispute Between Courts, Privacy Commissioners

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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The SCC ruling represents a unique opportunity for Canada's highest court to finally and definitively rule on the power of provincial information and privacy commissioners to order production of records...

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As outlined in our April 2015 Blakes Bulletin: Privilege Rules: Solicitor-Client Privilege Held Sacrosanct by Alberta Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has granted leave to appeal (on October 29, 2015) the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in University of Calgary v. JR, where the Alberta Court of Appeal held that Alberta's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) does not have the statutory authority under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) to order a public body to produce records over which it has asserted solicitor-client privilege.

CASE LAW ON SOLICITOR-CLIENT PRIVILEGE AND THE POWERS OF PRIVACY COMMISSIONERS

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