SCC File No. 38114 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA (ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR QUEBEC) BETWEEN: MARIE-MAUDE DENIS Appellant (Respondent) – and – MARC-YVAN CÔTÉ Respondent (Appellant) – and – HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF QUEBEC, FÉDÉRATION PROFESSIONELLE DES JOURNALISTES DU QUÉBEC, CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS, CANADIAN JOURNALISTS FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ET REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, LA PRESSE (2018) INC., CANADIAN CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOCIATION and AD IDEM/CANADIAN MEDIA LAWYERS ASSOCIATION, CTV, A DIVISION OF BELL MEDIA INC., GLOBAL NEWS, A DIVISION OF CORUS TELEVISION LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, GLOBE AND MAIL INC. POSTMEDIA NETWORK INC., VICE STUDIO CANADA INC. Interveners FACTUM OF THE INTERVENERS, AD IDEM/CANADIAN MEDIA LAWYERS ASSOCIATION, CTV, A DIVISION OF BELL MEDIA INC., GLOBAL NEWS, A DIVISION OF CORUS TELEVISION LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, THE GLOBE AND MAIL INC., POSTMEDIA NETWORK INC., and VICE STUDIO CANADA INC. (COLLECTIVELY, THE “MEDIA COALITION”) (Pursuant to Rules 42 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada) Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Borden Ladner Gervais LLP 1200 Waterfront Centre World Exchange Plaza 200 Burrard Street 1300 - 100 Queen St. P.O. Box 48600 Ottawa, ON K1P 1J9 Vancouver, BC V7X 1T2 David Crerar Karen Perron Tel.: 604.640.4181 Tel.: 613.2369.4795 Fax.: 604.622.5000 Fax.: 613.230.8842 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Ottawa Agent for the Intervener, Media Coalition Media Coalition - 2 - Linden and Associates Royal Bank Plaza 2010 - 200 Bay Street, North Tower Toronto, ON M5J 2J1 Iain A.C. MacKinnon Tel.: 416.861.9338 Fax.: 416-861-9973 Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Media Coalition ORIGINAL TO The Registrar Supreme Court of Canada 301 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0J1 COPY TO: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Bureau 3700 - 800, rue du Square-Victoria 1300 - 55 Metcalfe Street Montréal, QC H4Z 1E9 Ottawa, ON K1P 6L5 Christian Leblanc | Patricia Hénault Sophie Arseneault Geneviève McSween - Société Radio- Canada Tel: 514.397.7545 | 514.397.7488 Tel: 613. 236.3882 514.597.7762 Fax: 514.397.7600 Fax: 613. 230.6423 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for the Appellant Ottawa Agent for the Appellant - 3 - Jacques Larochelle avocat inc. 75, rue Saint-Jean Québec, QC G1R 1N4 Jacques Larochelle | Olivier Desjardins Tel: 418.529.5881 Fax: 418.529.1656 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for the Respondent Criminal and Penal Prosecutions of Québec Criminal and Penal Prosecutions of Québec Bureau 600 - 393, rue St-Jacques Bureau 1.230 - 17, rue Laurier Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1N9 Gatineau (Quebec) J8X 4C1 Robert Rouleau Emily K. Moreau Tel: 514.873.3856 Tel: 819.776.8111 Ext: 60412 Fax: 514.904.4130 Fax: 819.772.3986 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Ottawa Agent for the Intervener, Her Majesty the Queen Her Majesty the Queen Attorney General of Québec Noël & Associés Bureau 8.0 - 1, rue Notre-Dame Est 111 rue Champlain Montréal, QC H2Y 1B6 Gatineau, QC J8X 3R1 Michel Déom Sylvie Labbé Tel.: 514.393.2336 Ext: 51498 Tel: 819.771.7393 Fax: 514.873.7074 Fax: 819.771.5397 E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Ottawa Agent for the Intervener, Attorney General of Québec Attorney General of Quebec - 4 - Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP 3700 - 1 Place Ville Marie Montréal, QC H3B 3P4 Mark Bantey Tel: 514.392.9501 Fax: 514.876.9501 Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Fédération professionnelle des journalistes de Québec, Canadian Association Journalists, Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression et Reporters Without Borders Chenette, Boutique de litige inc. Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP 400 - 388, rue Saint-Jacques 2600 - 160 Elgin Street Montréal, QC H2Y 1S1 Ottawa, ON K1P 1C3 Sébastein Pierre-Roy Guy Régimbald Tel: 514.877.4228 Ext: 227 Tel: 613.786.0197 Fax: 514.397.4064 Fax: 613.563.9869 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Ottawa Agent for the Intervener, La Presse (2018) Inc. La Presse (2018) Inc. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Borden Ladner Gervais LLP 3400 - 22 Adelaide Street West 1300 - 100 Queen St. Toronto, ON M5H 4E3 Ottawa, ON K1P 1J9 Christopher D. Bredt | Pierre Gemson Karen Perron Tel: 416.367.6165 Tel.: 613.369.4795 Fax: 416.367.6749 Fax.: 613.230.8842 Email: [email protected] Email:[email protected] [email protected] Counsel for the Intervener, Ottawa Agent for the Intervener, Canadian Civil Liberties Association Canadian Civil Liberties Association i TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I – Overview ............................................................................................................................ 1 Part II – Position on the Questions in Issue .................................................................................... 3 Part III – Statement of Argument .................................................................................................... 3 A. Introduction: the JSPA seeks to better protect journalists and their sources ............ 3 B. Journalistic confidential sources presumptively protected ....................................... 5 C. Plain wording, the Constitution, and judicial economy mandate provincial appeals 8 D. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 10 Part IV – Costs .............................................................................................................................. 10 Part V – ORDER SOUGHT ......................................................................................................... 10 Part VI – Table of Authorities ...................................................................................................... 12 Case Law ........................................................................................................................... 12 Parliamentary Materials .................................................................................................... 12 Academic and Journalistic Works .................................................................................... 13 Legislation......................................................................................................................... 14 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................... 15 Members of the Media Coalition ...................................................................................... 15 1 PART I – OVERVIEW 1. History shows that confidential sources are critical to safeguarding our democracy. The Pentagon Papers, Watergate, Snowden, Abu Ghraib, the Somali Affair, the present White House, the Sponsorship Scandal, Shawinigate: confidential sources have revealed to the public, through the voice of the media, fundamental issues of public and corporate governance. 1 Without those confidential revelations, these important matters may well never have seen the light of day.2 Therefore, the disclosure of information that would identity confidential sources should only be permitted in rare and exceptional circumstances. 2. As of the current date, two matters of importance to the rule of law and the governance of the country dominate the news: the Mark Norman trial, and the SNC-Lavalin affair. Each matter had its genesis in anonymous sources who shared information with a journalist. Regardless of the outcome or ultimate truth of those matters, our democracy requires their transparent investigation. 3. The present appeal is this Court’s first consideration of the Journalistic Sources Protection Act provisions in the Canada Evidence Act (s.39.1) (the “JSPA”).3 The outcome of this appeal, and the interpretation of the JSPA, will critically affect the way journalism is conducted across this country, and the ability of journalists to investigate and reveal problems in our society, to hold 1 R. v. National Post, 2010 SCC 16, [2010] 1 S.C.R. 477 at para. 28 [National Post]; Globe and Mail v. Canada (Attorney General), 2010 SCC 41, [2010] 2 S.C.R. 592 [Globe]; J. Cameron, “Of Scandals, Sources, and Secrets: Investigative Reporting, National Post and Globe & Mail,” (2011) 54 SCLR (2d) 233 at 233-34; C. Hutchison, “Leaks to Media May Decrease After Vice Media Decision”, slaw.ca (March 6, 2019); R. Fife, S. Chase, S. Fine, “PMO pressed Wilson-Raybould to abandon prosecution of SNC-Lavalin; Trudeau denies his office ‘directed’ her,” Globe & Mail (February 7, 2019); D. Pugliese, “Federal ministries investigate after officials provide Irving Shipbuilding with information about Postmedia journalist”, Ottawa Citizen (March 14, 2019); Anonymous, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” (September 6, 2018), New York Times; G. Greenwald, “XKeyscore: NSA tools collect ‘nearly everything a user does on the internet”, The Guardian (July 31, 2013); K.L. Sager and R.L. Wilcox, “Protecting Confidential Sources,” (Winter 2007) 33:2 Litigation 36 at 37, 40; D. Banisar, “Silencing Sources: An International Survey of Protections and Threats to Journalists’ Sources”, Privacy International (November 2007) at 8; Centre for Free Expression, “Prominent Canadian Whistleblowers”; J.D. Burke, “Shielding the Public Interest: