A recent Supreme Court of Canada case, Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Blood Tribe Department of Health, decided that the Privacy Commissioner does not have the power to review documents over which a claim of solicitor–client privilege has been asserted to determine whether they are in fact privileged. That role remains reserved for the courts.
In the article, Wendy Matheson says the decision sends a strong message to corporate Canada: "The Supreme Court of Canada is signalling there ought to be no erosion of privilege, not even the kind proposed here, where the Privacy Commissioner was saying: 'I just want to adjudicate the privilege and, if it's properly claimed, I will respect it.' Even in that context, the Supreme Court is saying no. That is a message one would hope influences our regulators and prosecutors to continue to respect privilege, rather than to do the things that have been done in the United States."
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