On August 21st, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia held that a requester had not rebutted the presumption of privilege that applied to the total amount spent by government in an ongoing legal dispute.
The Court first held that the presumptive privilege for total legal costs recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Maranda v Richer applies in the civil context. Then, in finding the requester had not rebutted the privilege, the Court engaged in detailed discussion about how the timing of the request and the surrounding context will weigh in the analysis.
The Court’s analysis is as complex as it is lengthy. Ultimately, the outcome rested most heavily on (a) the timing of the request (early into trial), (b) the identity of the requester (who was a party) and (c) the degree of information about the matter available to the public (which was high). The Court felt these factors supported the making of strong enough inferences about confidential solicitor-client communications that sustaining privilege was warranted.
More generally, the decision stresses the presumption of privilege and associated onus of proof. Despite Maranda, it is easy to think that total legal fees spent on matter are accessible subject to the privilege holder’s burden of justification. Precisely the opposite is true.
British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Canadian Constitution Foundation, 2020 BCCA 238 (CanLII).
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