19-08-2018, 12:03 AM
James:
I have reviewed a large portion of the Bloomfield files, including those that have been deemed by the archives as subject to solicitor-client privilege. The files were were first made available to the public in 2010 after Montreal researcher Maurice Phillips took the archives to court to get access to his papers. As part of the court settlement, the archives made certain files available for the public to review in 2010 and other files i.e. those deemed to be subject to solicitor client privilege were allowed to be reviewed 50 years after the last date in the file. Over a number of years I made repeated visits to the archives to review files when they reached 50 years of age, and in all of the many hundreds of letters and documents that I have read, none of them have any evidence of wrong-doing.
In Canadian case law there is a legal test, and if any letter or document that the archives deems as been subject to privilege does not pass the test, then the court should rule that the archives should no longer block access to that letter or document. It is true that individual clients, if they are still alive, can waive privilege, but the easiest way to proceed with this case is for the court to appoint a lawyer, who is not connected to the government to review the documents and then inform the court of their opinion.
John
I have reviewed a large portion of the Bloomfield files, including those that have been deemed by the archives as subject to solicitor-client privilege. The files were were first made available to the public in 2010 after Montreal researcher Maurice Phillips took the archives to court to get access to his papers. As part of the court settlement, the archives made certain files available for the public to review in 2010 and other files i.e. those deemed to be subject to solicitor client privilege were allowed to be reviewed 50 years after the last date in the file. Over a number of years I made repeated visits to the archives to review files when they reached 50 years of age, and in all of the many hundreds of letters and documents that I have read, none of them have any evidence of wrong-doing.
In Canadian case law there is a legal test, and if any letter or document that the archives deems as been subject to privilege does not pass the test, then the court should rule that the archives should no longer block access to that letter or document. It is true that individual clients, if they are still alive, can waive privilege, but the easiest way to proceed with this case is for the court to appoint a lawyer, who is not connected to the government to review the documents and then inform the court of their opinion.
John