Gwen MacIsaac

The applicant brought a motion under Rule 318 of the Federal Courts Rules seeking further disclosure of documents from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) regarding its decisions on a proposed port expansion project.

The applicant alleged actual bias by the VFPA, arguing that the initial disclosure was inadequate.

The Federal Court granted the motion in part, ordering the VFPA to conduct further searches and disclose additional documents related to board meetings, government communications, internal analyses, and the rescission decision, as well as to provide certain spreadsheets in their native Excel format.

However, the Court upheld the VFPA's claims of solicitor-client privilege over a specific set of withheld documents.

The applicant meat producer sought judicial review under section 44 of the Access to Information Act to prevent the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from disclosing records related to a food inspection study.

The applicant argued that disclosure would cause material financial harm and prejudice its competitive position due to anticipated negative media coverage.

The Federal Court conducted a de novo review and held that the applicant failed to demonstrate a reasonable expectation of probable harm, noting that the agency's proposed redactions and explanatory note mitigated the risks.

The application was dismissed.

The applicant sought to amend its notice of application for judicial review regarding a port authority's decision not to process a project enquiry, alleging bias because the port authority had a competing project.

The respondents moved to strike the application on grounds of mootness, prematurity, and lack of jurisdiction, arguing the original decision had been rescinded.

The Court struck the request for an order prohibiting the competing project but allowed the remainder of the application to proceed, finding that the underlying issue of bias remained a live controversy.

The Court allowed the proposed amendments in part and ruled on the admissibility of affidavit evidence, striking argumentative and opinion-based portions.