Date: 20110329
Docket: T-592-10
Citation: 2011 FC 379
Ottawa, Ontario, March 29, 2011
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Lemieux
BETWEEN:
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M. ROBIN QUINN
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Applicant
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and
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THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA
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Respondent
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REASONS FOR JUDGMENT AND
JUDGMENT
I. Introduction and background
[1]
In
this judicial review application made pursuant to section 41 of the Access
to Information Act (ATIA), Robin Quinn, who is self-represented, challenges
the September 23rd 2008 decision of the Director, Access to
Information and Privacy at the Privy Council Office (PCO) denying the
information he requested because it could not be disclosed since “it
constitutes confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council and has accordingly been
withheld pursuant to section 69(1)(f) (draft legislation) of the Access to
Information Act ”. Mr. Quinn had requested from the PCO a copy of
the report or reports of the examination of the National Capital Commission
(NCC) Animal Regulations (the Animal Regulation) proposed to be made by the
Governor-in-Council (G-in-C) pursuant to subsection 20 (1) of the NCC Act.
These Regulations were enacted by the G-in-C under P.C. 2002-671 on the 25th
of April 2002. His March 25th 2008 request sent to the PCO
reads:
RE: EXAMINATION OF THE PROPOSED
NCC ANIMAL REGULATIONS PERSUANT TO THE STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS ACT
Section Three of the Statutory
Instruments Act requires the examination of proposed regulations.
In the case of the above regulations this
examination should have taken place prior to the Part I Gazetting, August 18,
2001.
My request is for access to a copy of the
report or reports of this examination that the PCO may hold.
[2]
The
subsection 69(1)(f) of the ATIA disclosure exclusion reads:
Confidences
of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada
69.
(1) This Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council
for Canada, including, without
restricting the generality of the foregoing,
[…]
(f)
draft legislation;
[Emphasis
added]
|
Documents
confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada
69.
(1) La présente loi ne s’applique pas aux documents confidentiels du
Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada, notamment aux :
[…]
f) avant-projets
de loi ou projets de règlement;
[Notre
soulignement]
|
[3]
Attached
to PCO’s refusal letter are two pages. The first page reads “Page(s) 000063
to 000118 are excluded pursuant to section 69(1)(f) of the ATIA” The second
page reads “Page(s) 000001 to 000062 are not relevant”.
[4]
The
examination of proposed federal regulations is a requirement of the Statutory
Instruments Act (SIA) particularly its section 3 whose scheme is as
follows:
(i)
Subsection
3(1) of SIA requires “where a regulation-making authority proposes to make a
regulation, it shall cause to be forwarded to the Clerk of the Privy Council
(the Clerk), three copies of the proposed regulations in both official
languages”;
(ii)
Subsection
3(2) of SIA states that upon receipt “the Clerk in consultation with the
Deputy Minister of Justice, shall examine the proposed regulations to ensure
that the proposed regulation is” (a) authorized by statute, (b) does not
constitute an unusual or unexpected use of authority, (c) does not trespass
unduly on existing rights and freedoms set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
and the Canadian Bill of Rights, and (d) the form and draftsmanship of the
proposed regulations are in accordance with established standards; and
(iii)
Subsection
3(3) of SIA provides that “when a proposed regulation has been examined
as required by subsection (2) the Clerk shall advise the regulation-making
authority that the proposed regulation has been so examined under
subsection 3(2) and shall indicate any matter referred to in that subsection to
which “in the opinion of the Deputy Minister of Justice, based on the
examination, attention of the regulation-making authority should be drawn”. [Emphasis
added]
[5]
I
also mention that on the same day Mr. Quinn made his access request to PCO, he
made an identical request to the NCC and was advised by the NCC’S Access Coordinator,
on April 23rd 2008, the NCC “does not hold any reports with
regards to the examination of the proposed NCC Animal Regulations pursuant to
the SIA”. Mr. Quinn took no further action with respect to NCC’s answer.
[6]
On
the other hand, on September 29th 2009, Mr. Quinn did take
the opportunity accorded to him under the ATIA by making a complaint to the
Information Commissioner regarding the PCO’s refusal of his access request for
a copy of the report or reports of the examination of the proposed NCC Animal
Regulation.
[7]
The
Information Commissioner investigated the complain and on March 12, 2010,
provided the following response to Mr. Quinn:
Subsection 69(1) provides that the Act
does not apply to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. The Act also provides that
our office may not see any of the Information which the government claims to be
a Cabinet confidence. Within that significant constraint, during the course of
our investigation of your complaint and the undertaking of second review by the
Privy Council Office (PCO’s) Cabinet Confidence/Counsel (CC/C), PCO CC/C
confirmed to our satisfaction that the withheld material continues to
constitute excluded Cabinet confidence material. The material which remains
excluded pertains to:
- records the purpose of which
is to brief ministers of the Crown in relation to matters that are before, or
are proposed to be brought before Council or that are the subject of
communications or discussions referred to in paragraph 69(1)(d) (paragraph
69(1)(e)); or
- draft legislation (paragraph
69(1)(f)).
Consequently, I will record as not
substantiated your complaint about PCO’s application of section 69 of
the Act.
[Emphasis added]
[8]
For
completeness I set out the text of section 69(1)(d), (e) and (g) and subsection
69(2) of the ATIA:
Confidences
of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada
69.
(1) This Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council
for Canada, including, without restricting the
generality of the foregoing,
(d)
records used for or reflecting communications or discussions between
ministers of the Crown on matters relating to the making of government
decisions or the formulation of government policy;
(e)
records the purpose of which is to brief ministers of the Crown in
relation to matters that are before, or are proposed to be brought before,
Council or that are the subject of communications or discussions referred
to in paragraph (d);
(g)
records that contain information about the contents of any record
within a class of records referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f).
[Emphasis
added]
|
Documents
confidentiels du Conseil privé de la Reine pour le Canada
69.
(1) La présente loi ne s’applique pas aux documents confidentiels du Conseil
privé de la Reine pour le Canada, notamment aux :
d) documents
employés en vue ou faisant état de communications ou de discussions entre
ministres sur des questions liées à la prise des décisions du
gouvernement ou à la formulation de sa politique;
e) documents
d’information à l’usage des ministres sur des questions portées ou
qu’il est prévu de porter devant le Conseil, ou sur des questions qui
font l’objet des communications ou discussions visées à l’alinéa d);
g)
documents contenant des renseignements relatifs à la teneur des documents
visés aux alinéas a) à f).
[Notre
soulignement]
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[9]
Section
69(2) defines “Council” in the following term:
Definition
of “Council”
(2)
For the purposes of subsection (1), “Council” means the Queen’s Privy
Council for Canada, committees of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet and committees of
Cabinet.
[Emphasis
added]
|
Définition
de « Conseil »
(2)
Pour l’application du paragraphe (1), « Conseil » s’entend du Conseil
privé de la Reine pour le Canada, du Cabinet et de leurs comités respectifs.
[Notre
soulignement]
|
[10]
The
Information Commissioner advised Mr. Quinn that he had a right under section 41
of the ATIA to apply to the Federal Court for a review of PCO’s decision to
deny him access to the requested record which he commenced by Notice of Application
for Federal Review on April 15, 2010.
II. Context
[11]
As
noted, the Animal Regulations were made on April 25, 2002 by the Governor
General in Council by P.C. 2002-671 upon recommendation of the Minister of
Canadian Heritage, responsible for the NCC. The Animal Regulations were registered
with the Registrar of Statutory Instruments that same day as SOR/2002-164. They
were published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on May 8, 2002. They contain a
very extensive Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) found between page
1039 to 1054 of the Canada Gazette.
[12]
The
Animal Regulations were also pre-published in the Canada Gazette Part
I on August 18, 2001 and invited interested persons to make
representations within 60 days. Mr. Quinn told me he did not make any
representations as he was not aware of them. The purpose of the Animal
Regulations is to prescribe rules governing domestic animals on NCC lands
whether leased or unleased. The Animal Regulations set out rules stipulating in
what areas an animal must be under leash; what is appropriate behaviour for an
animal such as a dog and “stoop and scoop requirements”.
[13]
This
Court had the benefit of a recent Federal Court decision by my colleague Madam
Justice Simpson involving Mr. Quinn and these very same Animal Regulations (see
Quinn v. Canada (Minister of Justice), 2008 FC 376
dated March 25, 2008.
[14]
In
that case, Mr. Quinn was challenging a decision by the Federal Department of
Justice’s (DOJ) Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator who refused
to provide him with two categories of documents he was seeking namely (a) the
draft Animal Regulations that were sent to the Special Committee of Council (a
Cabinet Committee) and (b) the various communications from Justice lawyers to
either the Clerk of the Privy Council or to the NCC.
[15]
Counsel
for the Respondent, who also appeared in the case before Justice Simpson,
states in his memorandum before me that Mr. Quinn abandoned his request for
copies of the draft Animal Regulations at the 2008 hearing and pursued only the
issue of the communications from Justice lawyers to either the Clerk of the
Privy Council or the NCC.
[16]
At
paragraph 11 of her decision, Justice Simpson framed the issue before her as
follows:
The issue is whether the communications which
contained the advice given by the Justice Lawyers to the NCC during the
drafting and examination of the Animal Regulations and the
communications which contained the advice given to the Clerk by or on
behalf of the Deputy Minister of Justice during the examination are exempt
under section 23 of the Act on the basis of subject and solicitor-client
privilege.
[Emphasis added]
[17]
During
the hearing before her, Justice Simpson was concerned there was no evidence
in the record describing whether and, if so, in what manner there had been
compliance with section 3 of the Statutory Instruments Act (the SIA).
She required of the Respondent to file an affidavit describing the examination
undertaken for the Animal Regulations. The Respondent produced the affidavit of
Tania Tooke.
[18]
I
can do no better than to cite paragraphs 8 to 10 of Justice Simpson’s decision
as to what Tania Tooke said in her affidavit:
[8] Further to the Court's request, the
Respondent filed an affidavit sworn by Tania Tooke on October 31, 2007 (the
Tooke Affidavit). Therein, the Respondent set out the steps followed during
the drafting, examination and enactment of the Animal Regulations. The
Applicant declined an opportunity to make further oral submissions on the Tooke
Affidavit and instead filed written submissions dated December 6, 2007.
[9] The Tooke Affidavit showed that
the significant events in the development of the Animal Regulations were as
follows:
1. In December of 1999,
through its legal counsel, the NCC provided draft Animal Regulations to the
Regulations Section of the Legislative Services Branch of the Department of
Justice (the Regulations Section).
2. The examination of the
Animal Regulations under section 3 of the SIA was assigned to two Department of
Justice lawyers in the Regulations Section.
3. From December 1999 to May
2001, the Justice Lawyers drafted and undertook the Examination in
consultation with the NCC's legal staff.
4. The NCC also sent the
Animal Regulations and its draft of the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS)
to the Regulatory Affairs Division of the Regulatory Affairs and Orders in
Council Secretariat (the Secretariat). It represents the Clerk of the Privy
Council in the regulatory process. Officials in the Regulatory Affairs Division
conducted an initial review of the Animal Regulations to ensure that they
complied, inter alia, with the requirements of subsection 3(2) of SIA.
5. Once the Regulations Section
[of DOJ] completed its Examination, the Animal Regulations were "blue
stamped". Blue Stamping, in this case, served to communicate to the
Secretariat [at PCO] that the Regulations Section has completed the Examination
and that there were no outstanding issues. A covering letter dated May 30, 2001
to the NCC from the Regulations Section [of DOJ] confirmed that the Examination
had been conducted.
6. The Minister of Canadian
Heritage then signed the Animal Regulations. This had the effect of formally
recommending that the Governor in Council pre-publish them in the Canada Gazette.
7. The NCC then sent
the "blue stamped" copies of the Animal Regulations to the
Secretariat and both its Regulatory Affairs Division and its Order in Council
Division (together the Divisions) verified the completion of the Examination.
8. Then the Animal
Regulations and related documents were sent to a Cabinet Committee called The
Special Committee of Council (the Special Committee). It authorized the
pre-publication of the Animal Regulations in the Part I of the Canada Gazette. That occurred on
August 18, 2001.
9. The Animal Regulations
were "blue stamped" a second time on February 13, 2002. Each
page bore a Department of Justice logo and the words: "Examined by the
Regulations Section of the Department of Justice -- Examiné par la Section de
la réglementation du ministère de la Justice".
10. The "blue
stamped" copies received a recommendation for enactment from the Minister
of Heritage and were returned to the Secretariat with all the supporting
documents. Both Divisions again reviewed them. In that review, the
Regulatory Affairs Division acted on the Clerk's behalf to ensure that there
had been an examination under subsection 3(2) of the SIA. The Secretariat then
prepared a briefing note for the Special Committee and it recommended to the
Governor General that the Animal Regulations be made.
11. The Governor General
then made the Animal Regulations. Thereafter, they were registered with the
Registrar of Statutory Instruments on April 25, 2002 as S.O.R./2002-164 and
were published in the Canada Gazette Part I on Wednesday, May 8, 2002.
[10] Based on this evidence, it is my
view that the Justice Lawyers performed two functions in tandem. They
completed the drafting of the Animal Regulations for the NCC and, while
drafting, they conducted the Examination pursuant to subsection 3(2) of
the SIA.
[Emphasis added]
[19]
Justice
Simpson went on to hold as follows:
Applying these principles to this case, I
agree with the Applicant that there was no solicitor and client relationship
between the NCC and the Clerk. However, that conclusion does not dispose of the
matter because, in my view, the facts of this case disclose two solicitor
and client relationships. The first existed between the Clerk and the Justice
Lawyers. When the Clerk was provided with their advice about whether the
Animal Regulations complied with subsection 3(2) of the SIA, it was a
privileged communication. The second solicitor and client relationship was
formed between the NCC and the Justice Lawyers when they advised the NCC about
compliance with subsection 3(2) of the SIA in the context of drafting the
Animal Regulations. Those communications were also privileged.
[Emphasis added]
[20]
She
dealt with another submission made by Mr. Quinn at paragraph 22:
The Applicant has also asked me to
determine whether the Examination was properly conducted and whether the
Clerk was obliged to issue a report when the examination was complete. However,
I have concluded that these issues are not relevant because, under s. 41 of the
Act, this application is limited to a review of the Respondent's decision to
withhold the Exempt Material.
[Emphasis added]
[21]
Tania
Tooke’s affidavit is part of the Respondent’s record in this case. It has a
number of documentary exhibits including (1) the 2nd edition of a
document issued in 2001 by the PCO entitled “Guide to Making Federal Acts and
Regulations” (the Guide). That document makes the following points.
[22]
First,
it identifies the main participants in the federal regulatory process as:
(i)
The
authority which makes the regulation stating such authority is usually the
G-in-C on the advise of the Privy Council which is usually exercised by the
Special Committee of Council but may be another Cabinet Committee such as the
Treasury Board;
(ii)
The
Minister and the officials in the sponsoring department;
(iii)
The
Clerk of the Privy Council;
(iv)
The
Regulatory Affairs and Orders in Council Secretariat of the Privy Council
Office;
(v)
The
Deputy Minister of Justice;
(vi)
The
Regulations Section of the Department of Justice; and
(vii)
The
Treasury Board Secretariat.
[23]
The
Guide makes it clear as set out in the SIA, both the Clerk of the Privy Council
and the Deputy Minister of Justice have a role when it comes to the examination
of “regulations” which is referred in Section 2 as meaning “a statutory
instrument made in the exercise of legislative power conferred by or under an
Act of Parliament”. It states the Clerk is supported in his/her role by the
Regulatory Affairs and Orders in Council Secretariat (RAOIC) of PCO which “is
responsible for monitoring, coordinating and advising on regulatory and Orders
in Council (O in C), issues and policies and their consistency with economic,
social and federal-provincial policies”. It states the Secretariat provides
support to the Special Committee of Council (SCC) with respect to regulatory
and O in C matters. As noted the Guide says the Secretariat is split into two
divisions; the Regulatory Affairs Division and the Orders in Council Division.
[24]
More
specifically the Guide indicates:
The prime responsibilities of the Regulatory
Affairs Division include:
·
the
monitoring of regulatory proposals
·
the
provision of substantive support to SCC through analysis, briefing, and advice
with respect to regulatory proposals; and
·
support
for the implementation and development of the Regulatory Policy.
In more specific terms, it reviews each
regulatory proposal from an overall policy perspective and may request
additional information or analyses from the sponsoring department prior to the
proposal being submitted to the SCC for consideration.
The Orders in Council Division’s main responsibilities
include:
·
the
management of the approval process for all Orders in Council, regulations, and
other statutory instruments;
·
the
provision of secretariat services to the SCC;
·
the
provision of advice on the use of Orders in Council and/or Instruments of
Advice;
·
the
production and distribution of Orders in Council;
·
the registration
and publication of regulations in Part II of the Canada Gazette (see http://canada.gc.ca/gazette/gazette_e.html);
and
·
the
maintenance of records of approved Orders in Council, the Consolidated Index of
Statutory Instruments, and a number of Oath Books (see http://canada.gc.ca/howgoc/oic/oic_e.html)
[Emphasis added]
[25]
The
Guide then speaks to the tasks of the Deputy Minister of Justice under the SIA
which, as noted, are carried out by the Regulations Section of DOJ which
examines all proposed regulations submitted by departments and agencies to
ensure compliance with the SIA and specifically its section 3. It adds:
When it has finished its examination, the
Regulations Section stamps the draft regulations. If the solution found for any legal
problems in the file involves some legal risk, the Regulations Section
writes to the department or agency explaining what the risk is. If serious
legal risk issues remain unsettled, the Regulations Section reports its
concerns to the Clerk of the Privy Council.
[Emphasis added]
III. The Position of the Parties
a) The applicant
[26]
Mr.
Quinn made a number of written submissions which may be summarized as follows:
(i)
The
examination of the proposed Animal Regulations by the Clerk under subsection
3(2) of the SIA does not constitute a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council
because section 3 of the SIA does not require nor is it intended to create a
report that is considered by Cabinet or prepared for Cabinet discussion.
Section 3 of the SIA addresses common standards for all regulations and not the
substantive policy behind or the content of a proposed regulation. Such
examination does not address issues that would be the concern or subject-matter
of Cabinet discussions, he submits.
(ii)
He
says the Clerk’s examination is not undertaken at the direction of Cabinet, is
not required by the SIA to be provided to Cabinet but directs the Clerk to provide
comments to the regulation-making authority which he states in this case is
the NCC, not Cabinet itself (my emphasis).
(iii)
Being
an exception to the right of access provided for in the ATIA, section 69 should
be interpreted narrowly and, specifically, its paragraph (f) should not be
interpreted as a stand-alone category that makes all forms of draft
legislation, a Cabinet confidence. He argues that to be included as a Cabinet
confidence, the draft legislation that must be prepared for, discussed or
reviewed by Cabinet itself. He argues that the Clerk’s examination itself is
not draft legislation; it is information about draft legislation.
(iv)
He
further argues that under section 3 of the SIA the Clerk does not examine
draft legislation but proposed legislation with “proposed” meaning a
regulation to be made and a draft legislation (regulation) means its
preliminary written version.
(v)
He
further submits that before section 69 of the ATIA can be applied, the
respondent should be required to provide the same information as would be
required for the Clerk to issue a certificate under section 39 of the Canada
Evidence Act (CEA). He has not done so because he has filed no affidavit
in this Court that identifies the information for which a confidence is claimed
as is required of a section 39 certificate nor has the Clerk in this case
issued a section 39 (CEA) certificate claiming the records of his examination
of the Animal Regulations contains a confidence of the Queen. He says the
respondent has not forwarded the records of such examination to this Court for
its review. As such he submits, this Court has no basis to conclude paragraph
69(1)(f) of the ATIA has been properly invoked and the respondent has failed to
meet its burden under section 48 of the ATIA.
(vi)
Lastly
he argues, citing the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Babcock v Canada
(Attorney General) [2002] 3 S.C.R. 3 (Babcock), the respondent was
required to balance the need for confidentiality and the public interest to
access and that he has not done so.
b) The respondent
[27]
The
principal arguments raised by the Attorney General of Canada (the AG) on behalf
of the respondent are:
(i)
The
proposed draft Animal Regulations and their examination by the Clerk are exempt
from production under subsection 69(1) of the ATIA because they were prepared
for Cabinet consideration and were actually put to Cabinet for consideration
and decision as part of the pre-publication process for Part I of the Canada
Gazette and their subsequent enactment by the Governor-in-Council.
(ii)
The
facts in the judicial review application decided by Justice Simpson are the
same as in this case in terms of the procedure which was followed leading to
the enactment of the amendments to the Animal Regulations. Justice Simpson’s
findings on this procedural history are findings of fact which require judicial
comity from this Court particularly since Mr. Quinn did not appeal that
decision and, more importantly, abandoned the argument before Justice Simpson
on the issue whether the proposed Animal Regulations were Cabinet confidences.
Moreover, Justice Simpson found as a fact the draft Animal Regulations and
related documents were sent to the Special Committee of Council.
(iii)
In
the instant case, there is no separate report of the examination of the
proposed regulations by the Clerk, that is, apart from the blue-starred
proposed regulation itself. Subsection 3(3) of the SIA only requires the Clerk
to advise the regulation-making authority if during the examination a matter
arises in respect of which, in the opinion of the Deputy Minister of Justice,
attention should be drawn to that authority. The fact the draft regulation was
blue-starred by DOJ confirms the Deputy Minister of Justice had no such
concerns. Moreover, such was the finding by Justice Simpson.
(iv)
There
is no need for a separate certificate by the Clerk as required by section 39 of
the CEA. The ATIA defines what a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council is
and does so in the same terms as section 39 of the CEA. Moreover, the
Information Commissioner was satisfied as a result of his investigation that
the non-disclosed records of the Clerk’s examination were such confidences.
(v)
The
important feature in this case is the fact that the Governor-in-Council was the
regulation-making authority who acted on the advice of the SCC to whom the
Clerk sent a briefing note and recommended its pre-publication, and, after comments
were received, its subsequent enactment. These were Justice Simpson’s
findings. It is arguable however that if the regulation maker was an
institution other than the Governor-in-Council such as the CRTC the Clerk’s
examination would not constitute draft legislation. This issue has no import
in this case as clearly the Clerk’s examination was before the SCC.
IV. Analysis
a) The Standard
of Review
[28]
There
is no dispute between the parties that the correctness standard applies since
the critical question is a legal one i.e. whether PCO’s Access Director
properly invoked the exclusion clause in section 69(1) of the ATIA.
b) Discussion
and Conclusions
[29]
I
agree with Mr. Quinn that the AG took an overly narrow view of the scope of his
access request. He was seeking the records of the examination by the Clerk of
the Privy Council of his examination of the proposed regulations. He was not
seeking the blue-starred proposed Animal Regulations which were subsequently published
in Part I of the Canada Gazette and then enacted by the Governor-in-Council
after comments were received from the public.
[30]
I
further agree with Mr. Quinn the Clerk had a statutory duty to examine the
proposed draft regulations quite apart from the examination which was made by
the Regulations Section of DOJ and led to the blue stamp evidencing the fact
the proposed regulations were examined by DOJ as required by the SIA. The
documentary evidence before me demonstrates the purpose the Clerk’s examination
is not to duplicate the examination by DOJ but to ensure that such examination
has taken place, that issues raised by the Deputy Minister of Justice have been
resolved but ,more importantly, that the regulatory policy of the Government of
Canada as reflected in the RIAS which is not part of the proposed regulation
has been complied with. The evidence is clear that the Clerk is the
institution that advises the SCC on this point.
[31]
I
also agree with him that the blue-stamp draft regulations do not necessarily
equate to the records of the examination by the Clerk of his examination of the
proposed draft Animal Regulations. As he observed, the PCO Access Director
refused to release 53 pages of documentation of the Clerk’s examination.
[32]
Nevertheless,
I must dismiss Mr. Quinn’s judicial review application for the following
reasons:
(i)
His
evidentiary record is non-existent as to what transpired in the Clerk’s
examination of the proposed regulations either before authorization was
obtained from the SCC to pre-publish the proposed regulations or the steps that
had to be followed before the Governor-in-Council exacted the Animal
Regulations. On the other hand, he is stuck with the findings made by Justice
Simpson which are relevant to the process followed by the Clerk in his
examination of the very same Animal Regulations and subsequent advice to the
SCC and to the Governor-in-Council. Those steps clearly show a Cabinet
Committee considered and advised on the making of the proposed regulations.
Those steps are by legislative definition and at common law a confidence of the
Queen’s Privy Council whose requirement of confidentiality is obvious in the
view of Chief Justice McLachlin at paragraph 18 of her reasons in Babcock,
above. Under section 39 of the CEA it is the function of the Clerk of the
Privy Council to protect Cabinet Confidences and this alone. His power of certification
may be reviewed (See Babcock at para 39).
(ii)
Second,
I agree with counsel for the respondent that there is no need for a separate
section 39 CEA certification. The ATIA defines in a non limitative way, what
is a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council. The enumerations under section
69(1) are only examples of such confidences. If a particular access request
falls within the definition of a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council, the
right of access is not contemplated because the ATIA does not apply to such
request. In other words, the ATIA is self contained in its operation and does
not require the support of section 39 of the CEA.
(iii)
Third,
I do not see any merit in this case in the argument by Mr. Quinn that a
proposed regulation is not the same as draft legislation. It is well-known
that regulation making is delegated legislation i.e. delegated rule-making.
(iv)
Fourth,
the critical facts of this case is that the maker of the Animal Regulations is
the Governor-in-Council, not the NCC as Mr. Quinn would have it. The
Governor-in-Council is an institution which acts on the advice of Cabinet or a
committee thereof as is the case here. The Clerk’s examination was part of
that process.
[33]
On
a final note, Mr. Quinn, after the Court had taken the matter under reserve,
brought to the Court’s attention the recent decision of the Federal Court of
Appeal in Appleby-Ostroff v Canada (Attorney General) 2011 FCA 84
with particular attention focused on its paragraph 34. In my view that case is
not relevant because the respondent sought section 39 CEA protection without
the Clerk’s certificate. The refusal to disclose documents related to an
access request is not, as expressed above, dependent on section 39 but flows
from the requirements of the ATIA itself.
JUDGMENT
THIS COURT’S JUDGMENT
is that
this judicial review application is dismissed, with
costs.
“François
Lemieux”