In a civil appeal arising from discovery objections in a large municipal infrastructure dispute, the appellant municipality argued that questions concerning information received from its lawyers and requests for related documents were barred by professional secrecy.
The Court held that Quebec professional secrecy includes both an obligation of confidentiality and an immunity from disclosure, but not every aspect of the lawyer-client relationship is necessarily confidential.
For complicated and prolonged mandates, a rebuttable presumption of confidentiality applies, after which the opposing party must identify the information sought with specificity and show why disclosure is permissible.
Narrowed questions aimed only at the identity of the project and the status of regulatory approvals were allowed, while disputed documents had to be reviewed by the trial judge before any ruling on immunity from disclosure.
The presence of a facilitator at an in camera meeting did not amount to waiver.
