Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Charter of Rights - Freedom of expression - Search and seizure - Charter remedies - Journalist and source privilege - Confidentiality of media sources - Warrants - Assistance orders - Common law test for privilege in the context of a journalist-source relationship - Integration of Charter principles into case-by-case analysis of claims of privilege - Whether general warrant, assistance order and search are reasonable - Whether search and seizure appropriate - Whether assistance order places improper onus on Appellants to facilitate a search and seizure and to correct defects in issuing order - Whether costs should have been awarded against Crown on judicial review - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 2(b), 8, 24(1).

Andrew McIntosh, a National Post reporter, was investigating then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s business dealings in his home riding and particularly any involvement with a hotel called the Grand-Mère Inn. On April 5, 2001, he received a document from a confidential source. The document appears to be a loan authorization from the Business Development Bank of Canada which, if genuine, might show a conflict of interest. The bank claims the document is a forgery. On July 4, 2002, Khawly J. of the Ontario Court of Justice, at an ex parte hearing, issued to the police a general warrant and assistance order requiring the National Post’s editor-in-chief to produce the document and the envelope in which it was sent. The police intend to submit the document and envelope to forensic tests in order to identify the confidential source for the purposes of laying criminal charges of forgery and uttering a forged document. The National Post, its reporter and its editor-in-chief applied for judicial review. The Ontario Superior Court quashed the warrant and assistance order. The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal and restored the issuing judge’s order.