Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Government of Canada's appeal of the Federal Court decision, dated January 6, 2023, allowing for late claimants in the case of Sherry Heyder, Amy Graham, and Nadin Schultz-Nielsen v. The Attorney General of Canada, the Department of Justice cannot provide a response to part (a) of the question, as it is information protected by legal privileges, including solicitor-client and litigation privileges.
With respect to legal expenses incurred by the government related to Sherry Heyder, Amy Graham, and Nadin Schultz-Nielsen v. The Attorney General of Canada, to the extent that the information requested is or may be protected by any legal privileges, including solicitor-client privilege, the federal Crown asserts those privileges. In this case, it has only waived solicitor-client privilege and only to the extent of revealing the total legal costs, as defined below.
The total legal costs, that is, the actual and notional costs, associated with Sherry Heyder, Amy Graham, and Nadin Schultz-Nielsen v. The Attorney General of Canada amount to approximately $36,020,000, which includes $30,475,000 for the payment of legal fees to plaintiffs’ or class counsel, or $26,500,000 plus taxes, as approved by the Federal Court in its order dated November 25, 2019. The Government of Canada paid this amount to plaintiffs’ or class counsel in early 2020 as required by the final settlement agreement. Legal costs also include notional and actual cost amounts representing the litigation and litigation support services provided by the Department of Justice Canada, which amount to approximately $5,545,000.
Department of Justice lawyers, notaries and paralegals are salaried public servants, and therefore no legal fees are incurred for their services. A “notional amount” can, however, be provided to account for the legal services they provide. The notional amount is calculated by multiplying the total hours recorded in the responsive files for the relevant period by the applicable approved internal legal services hourly rates. Actual costs represent file-related legal disbursements paid by Justice Canada and then cost-recovered from client departments or agencies. The notional amounts for Justice Canada’s legal fees mentioned in this response are based on information contained in Department of Justice systems as of February 15, 2023.