Filling in the Blanks for Litigation Privilege: Blank v Canada (Minister of Justice)
| Author | Stephen G. A. Pitel,Dale E. Ives |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijep.2006.11.1.49 |
| Published date | 01 February 2007 |
| Date | 01 February 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Case Note |
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF (2007) 11 E&P 49–56 49
CASE NOTE
CASE NOTE
CASE NOTE
Filling in the blanks for litigation
privilege: Blank vCanada (Minister
of Justice)
By Dale E. Ives*andStephenG.A.Pitel
†
Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario
ver the past decade the Supreme Court of Canada has decided several
cases dealing with the parameters of solicitor–client privilege.1In Blank v
Canada (Minister of Justice)2the court has now turned its attention to
another of the class privileges, litigation privilege. The central issue in Blank was
straightforward, barely warranting the court’s attention, but the court took the
opportunity to give binding guidance on several important issues related to
litigation privilege.3Much of the guidance provided by the court is unsurprising
and uncontentious, but some aspects of the court’s reasoning are ambiguous and
controversial.
Facts and judgment
Blank was a director of Gateway Industries Ltd, which operated a paper mill in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1995 the Crown charged Blank and Gateway under the
Fisheries Act4with failing to file proper reports and polluting the Red River. All of
the charges were eventually quashed by the court, some in 1997 and the
1 See most notably RvCampbell [1999] 1 SCR 565; Smith vJones [1999] 1 SCR 455; RvMcClure [2001] 1 SCR
445; Lavallee, Rackel & Heintz vCanada (Attorney-General) [2002] 3 SCR 209; Maranda vRicher [2003] 3 SCR
193; Pritchard vOntario (Human Rights Commission) [2004] 1 SCR 809; Goodis vOntario (Ministry of Correc-
tional Services) 2006 SCC 31.
2 2006 SCC 39.
3 See RvHenry [2005] 3 SCR 609 at [52]–[59]for a discussion of the effect of dictum in Supreme Court
of Canada judgments.
4 RSC 1985 c F-14.
O
* Email: dives@uwo.ca.
† Email: spitel@uwo.ca.
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