Barry R. Morrison

The appellant municipality appealed a decision finding it liable for negligence in failing to enforce a building by-law.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, agreeing with the trial judge that the municipality owed no duty of care to the respondent in the circumstances of the case.

The Court of Appeal's judgment was reversed and the trial judgment dismissing the action was restored.

The appellant physician refused to provide her patient, the respondent, with copies of medical reports and records received from other physicians, claiming they were the property of those physicians.

The patient applied for an order directing the physician to provide a copy of her entire medical file.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the physical medical records belong to the physician, the physician-patient relationship is fiduciary in nature.

This gives the patient a trust-like beneficial interest in the information contained in the records.

Therefore, in the absence of legislation, a patient is entitled to examine and copy all information in their medical records that the physician considered in administering advice or treatment, subject to the court's superintending jurisdiction if access would cause harm.