The appellant brought a motion for a confidentiality order under section 16.1 of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) to protect 58 commercially sensitive documents disclosed during discovery.
The documents contained proprietary risk assessments and confidential third-party agreements related to joint ventures in the liquefied natural gas industry.
The Tax Court of Canada applied the Sherman Estate test and found that court openness posed a serious risk to important public interests, including the preservation of confidential information and the right to a fair trial.
The Court concluded that the order was necessary and its benefits outweighed the negative effects.
The motion was granted in part, sealing the subject documents.
