Dussault v. Canada (Customs and Revenue Agency)

T-1062-01

2003 FC 973, Dawson J.

25/8/03

Application under Access to Information Act, s. 41 for judicial review of decision of Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) refusing to disclose information contained in commercial fee-for-service contract entered into in 1992 between CCRA and Canada Post Corporation (CPC)-- Whether CCRA justified in refusing to disclose information under Act, s. 20(1)(c) on basis disclosure would prejudice competitive position of CPC--Under Agreement, CPC agreed to provide services regarding postal imports--Applicant disagreed with application by CCRA of Act, s. 20(1)(c), filed complaint with Office of Information Commissioner--CCRA disclosed all of Agreement to applicant except for certain information generally described as financial terms of Agreement-- Standard of review to be applied to decision of CCRA correctness--Evidence of harm must not be speculative-- Upon review of all evidence, CCRA established, on balance of probabilities, CPC had reasonable expectation of probable harm if remaining information disclosed-- Information not now disclosed would provide astute analyst with fairly accurate picture of structure, nature of compensation which CPC negotiated under Agreement-- Information could be used by competitors of Canada Post to bid against Canada Post for provision to CCRA of services covered by Agreement--Also relevant to probability of harm applicant employed by public relations and media firm, Global Public Affairs, that presently represents UPS-- Customs Act, s. 147.1 applies only to one of services CPC performs under Agreement, namely collection of duties-- Permissive, not mandatory--Therefore, upon proper termination of Agreement, provision not precluding CCRA from performing all functions covered by Agreement as prior to 1992--Evidence established, on balance of probabilities, disclosure of information could reasonably be expected to prejudice competitive position of CPC--Application dismissed--Access to Information Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. A-1, ss. 20, 41--Customs Act, R.S.C., 1985 (2nd Supp.), c. 1, s. 147.1 (as enacted by S.C. 1992, c. 28, s. 29; 1997, c. 36, s. 190).