Canadian Supreme Court Upholds Access To Wiretap Evidence In Private Litigation

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the right of litigants—in a Quebec class action on alleged fixing of gasoline prices by retailers—to access wiretap evidence collected during the Competition Bureau’s investigation of a criminal conspiracy among the retailers (Imperial Oil v. Jacques, Can, Sup Ct., Nos. 35226, 35231).

Although §29 of the Competition Act provides for confidentiality of the bureau’s record of a criminal investigation, it does not prohibit the disclosure of private communications intercepted under Part VI of Canada’s Criminal Code, Justices Louis LeBel and Richard Wagner said in the 6-1 decision that rejected, with ...