The Court reports that leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in R. v. National Post was granted this week. The case is about the circumstances in which journalists may claim a case-by-case privilege over their communications with confidential sources. Click here for my summary. The SCC docket number is 32601.
The Court also reports that the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in The Criminal Lawyers’ Association v. Ontario (Public Safety and Security) will be heard on December 11th. This is the case in which the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the public interest override clause in the Ontario FIPPA (and by implication the equivalent provision in MFIPPA) breached section 2(b) of the Charter because it did not allow an override of the law enforcement and solicitor-client privilege exemptions to the right of public access. The SCC docket number is 32172.
Finally, the Calgary Health Region has filed an application for leave to appeal the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Innovative Health Group v. Calgary Health Region. This is an e-discovery case that is about how courts should exercise their discretion to order whole disk inspections. Click here for my summary. The SCC docket number is 32788. Framed as above, it wouldn’t be a bad issue to get some national guidance on, and the jurisprudence does reflect a range in attitudes, from the very pro-production (characterized by the slightly qualified decision in Hummingbird v. Mustafa) to the very pro-protection as in Innovative Health Group itself. If not of “public importance,” the case is certainly interesting, and draws in issues related to litigation and third-party privacy and the cost of discovery. We’ll see.
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