Mark Bantey

The appellant, a journalist, requested access to a document detailing the expenses of Members of the National Assembly.

The request was denied under ss. 34 and 57 of the Act Respecting Access to Documents Held by Public Bodies and the Protection of Personal Information.

The Commission d’accès à l’information upheld the refusal, finding the document was produced 'for' a Member and that Members are not 'public bodies'.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the standard of review for the Commission's decisions is reasonableness, and that the Commissioner's interpretations of ss. 34 and 57 were reasonable.

The appellant brought an action for defamation against the respondent newspaper after it published an article identifying him as a representative of the Jewish Mafia.

A jury awarded the appellant $135,000 in non-pecuniary damages, which the trial judge affirmed.

The Court of Appeal reduced the award to $13,500, finding the jury's amount unreasonable.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and restored the trial judgment, holding that the jury's assessment was not so grossly inflated as to be unreasonable in the circumstances.