The Auditor General of Ontario appealed a lower court decision regarding the interpretation of section 10 of the Auditor General Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.
A.35.
The core issue was whether the Act confers authority on the Auditor General to access and compel disclosure of privileged information (solicitor-client, litigation, and settlement privilege) from a grant recipient, Laurentian University of Sudbury, during a value-for-money audit.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming that statutory language must demonstrate a clear, explicit, and unambiguous intent to abrogate privilege, and the Auditor General Act's provisions did not meet this high standard.
