The Crown brought an application under s. 37 of the Canada Evidence Act seeking to prevent disclosure of information relating to a confidential police informant during a preliminary inquiry.
Defence counsel sought answers to questions concerning the informant’s reliability and status with police.
The court reaffirmed that informer privilege is nearly absolute and protects any information that may tend to identify the informant, subject only to the innocence at stake exception, which was not engaged.
Relying on appellate authority cautioning against judicial editing of informant materials, the court held that the requested information could risk identification of the informant.
The Crown’s application was granted and disclosure of the requested information was prohibited.
