Mr. Speaker, with respect to the legal costs incurred by the Government for the cases Canadian Frontline Nurses and Kristen Nagle v. Attorney General of Canada, Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. Attorney General of Canada, Canadian Constitution Foundation v. Attorney General of Canada, and Jeremiah Jost, Edward Cornell, Vincent Gircys and Harold Ristau v. Governor in Council, His Majesty in right of Canada, Attorney General of Canada, and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to the extent that the information that has been 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, namely the actual and notional costs, associated with Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal files related to Canadian Frontline Nurses and Kristen Nagle v. Attorney General of Canada, Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. Attorney General of Canada, Canadian Constitution Foundation v. Attorney General of Canada, and Jeremiah Jost, Edward Cornell, Vincent Gircys and Harold Ristau v. Governor in Council, His Majesty in right of Canada, Attorney General of Canada, and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, amount to approximately $3,645,000.00. The services targeted here are litigation services provided in these cases by the Department of Justice, as well as litigation support services. 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 files for the relevant period by the applicable approved internal legal services hourly rates. Actual costs represent file related legal disbursements and legal agent fees, as the case may be. The total amount mentioned in this response is based on information contained in Department of Justice systems, as of June 6, 2025.