An important element in a lawsuit is ?discovery? where the par4es are required to share with each

An important element in a lawsuit is “discovery” where the par4es are required to share with each other documents relevant to the dispute. Excluded from such disclosure obliga4on are documents in which a claim of solicitor-client privilege are claimed. 

Background

In a lawsuit, the Office of the Informa4on and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC) ordered the produc4on of records over which the University of Calgary had claimed solicitor-client privilege. The University provided a list of documents indica4ng solicitor-client privilege had been asserted over the records. The OIPC issued a No4ce to Produce Records under s. 56(3) of the Freedom of Informa,on and Protec,on of Privacy Act which requires a public body must produce required records to the Commissioner “[d]espite . . . any privilege of the law of evidence”. The University disputed the release of the privileged documents. 

Ques(on 

Please advise what the Supreme Court of Canada decided about S. 56(3) of the Freedom of 

Information and Protection of Privacy Act and whether it applied to the privileged documents.