Canwest Publishing Inc. et al. v. Wilson 2012 BCCA 181
Evidence - Witnesses - Privilege - Communications to news media - General
A newspaper owned by Canwest (The Province) featured an article written by O’Connor. The article contained allegations of family debt and wrongful campaign spending respecting a Liberal Member of Parliament, Wilson. Some of the information was provided by three confidential sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. Wilson claimed damages for defamation against Canwest and O’Connor. Wilson delivered interrogatories to O’Connor. O’Connor refused to answer questions contained in two of the interrogatories on the ground of journalist-source privilege. Wilson applied to compel O’Connor to answer the questions.
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision with neutral citation 2010 BCSC 1871, allowed the application and ordered O’Connor to answer the questions. O’Connor and Canwest appealed.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal.
