Federal Court Decisions

     Date: 19981113

     Docket: T-1567-98

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, NOVEMBER 13, 1998

BEFORE: RICHARD MORNEAU, PROTHONOTARY

Between:

     LOUIS DESROCHERS

     Plaintiff,

     AND

     ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA

     Defendant

     ORDER

     If the plaintiff intends to rely on s. 317(1) of the Federal Court Rules (1998), he must within 20 days of this order strictly observe the provisions of s. 317(1) of the Rules regarding the tribunal. The plaintiff must accordingly send a list of documents or material relevant to his application to the tribunal.

     The whole without costs.

Richard Morneau

     Prothonotary

Certified true translation

Bernard Olivier

     Date: 19981113

     Docket: T-1567-98

Between:

     LOUIS DESROCHERS

     Plaintiff,

     AND

     ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA

     Defendant

     REASONS FOR ORDER

RICHARD MORNEAU, PROTHONOTARY

[1]      This case concerns an application by the plaintiff " who represented himself " pursuant to Rules 317(3) and (4) and 369 of the Federal Court Rules (1998) ("the Rules") to be sent in connection with his application for judicial review what the Court may regard at the conclusion of its analysis as all the correspondence that may have been exchanged between the Attorney General of Canada and the Solicitor General of Canada in relation to the grievance filed by the plaintiff following his dismissal from the Correctional Service of Canada.

[2]      This request for documents appears to date to have been made to the defendant and not the tribunal whose order is the subject of the plaintiff"s application. The defendant has objected to this request for documents to date on this basis.

[3]      On a purely procedural level, the defendant is right in considering that she does not have to be concerned with this application since the tribunal referred to in s. 317(1) of the Rules is the grievance adjudicator of the Public Service Staff Relations Board who ruled on the grievance filed by the plaintiff.

[4]      The plaintiff should understand that under Rules 300 et seq., a distinction has to be made between a defendant to an application for judicial review and the tribunal whose decision is at issue. Section 317(1) of the Rules allows access to documents which the plaintiff may not already have and which may be in the possession of the tribunal and not of the Attorney General of Canada or the Solicitor General of Canada.

[5]      Accordingly, by this application the Court cannot [TRANSLATION] "take steps to require the Attorney General of Canada to . . . forward everything: documents, information or otherwise, which she or her agent, Richard Turgeon, had with the Minister, Hon... Andy Scott, and/or persons in the department of the Solicitor General of Canada in . . . record".

[6]      This application by the plaintiff must accordingly be dismissed.

[7]      However, from the wording used by the plaintiff in his application for judicial review it cannot be immediately excluded that the latter was not also impleading the tribunal.

[8]      The tribunal whose order is the subject of the plaintiff's application does not to date appear to have taken any position under Rule 318. This situation possibly results from the fact that the tribunal considered the plaintiff's request for documents as too vague and as directed essentially against the defendant and her client.

[9]      Consequently, the federal tribunal may be required to act provided the plaintiff, within 20 days of the date of the order accompanying these reasons, can strictly observe the provisions of s. 317(1) of the Rules regarding the tribunal. The plaintiff must therefore submit a list of documents or material relevant to his application to the tribunal.

Richard Morneau

     Prothonotary

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

November 13, 1998

Certified true translation

Bernard Olivier

FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA          Court No T-1567-98 BETWEEN      LOUIS DESROCHERS      Plaintiff      " and "      ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA      Defendant      REASONS FOR ORDER

     FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA

     NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD

COURT FILE NO:      T-1567-98

STYLE OF CAUSE:      LOUIS RESROCHERS

     Plaintiff

AND

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA,

     Defendant

WRITTEN APPLICATION HEARD AT MONTREAL WITHOUT APPEARANCE BY PARTIES

REASONS FOR ORDER OF RICHARD MORNEAU, PROTHONOTARY

DATE OF REASONS FOR ORDER:      November 13, 1998

WRITTEN SUBMISSION BY:

Louis Desrochers      for the plaintiff

Richard Turgeon      for the defendant

SOLICITOR OF RECORD:

Morris Rosenberg      for the defendant

Deputy Attorney General

of Canada