5819-05773 — Public Services and Procurement Canada

The complainant alleged that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) improperly withheld 96,781 pages of records under section 23 (solicitor-client and litigation privilege) of the Access to Information Act. The records related to the negotiation of a 1991 lease for the Louis St-Laurent Building. PSPC applied section 23 in a blanket manner, claiming both solicitor-client and litigation privilege. The Information Commissioner found that while some information met the requirements for solicitor-client privilege, PSPC failed to demonstrate that any information met the requirements for litigation privilege. Furthermore, PSPC's exercise of discretion was deemed unreasonable as it considered irrelevant factors and failed to consider relevant ones. The Commissioner also concluded that PSPC failed to adhere to section 25 by not performing a proper severance exercise. The complaint was found to be well founded, and PSPC was ordered to disclose specific types of records, all records not meeting solicitor-client privilege, and to reconsider its discretion for information genuinely subject to solicitor-client privilege.