The applicant mining company brought a motion to strike portions of a respondent’s affidavit and factum on the basis that they disclosed communications made during settlement negotiations.
The court considered the principles governing settlement privilege as articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada and the conditions required for the privilege to arise.
It found that a litigious dispute existed or was contemplated at the time of the communications, the communications were made with an implied intention of confidentiality, and their purpose was to attempt settlement of the dispute.
As no competing public interest justified disclosure, the communications were protected by settlement privilege.
The court ordered that the impugned passages and documents be struck or expunged from the responding materials.
