Mr. Speaker, with respect to the legal costs incurred by the government for the Federal Court cases Canadian Frontline Nurses et al. v. AGC (court file no. T-306-22), Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. AGC (court file no. T-316-22), Canadian Constitution Foundation v. AGC (court file no. T-347-22) and Jeremiah Jost et al. v. AGC et al. (court file no. T-382-22), 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, the actual and notional costs, associated with Canadian Frontline Nurses et al. v. AGC, Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. AGC, Canadian Constitution Foundation v. AGC and Jeremiah Jost et al. v. AGC et al. amount to approximately $2,231,000.00. 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; 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 February 7, 2024.