This exercise involves the BCFreedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSBC 1996, c 165 (FIPPA). You can access the official version of this act online here. Once you have located it, navigate to section 21 and read it carefully, including all of its subsections.

Lawyers in British Columbia who provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford legal services are paid by the BC Ministry of Justice (BCMoJ) under a "legal aid" program. The BCMoJ is a public body subject to FIPPA. In some cases, non-lawyers, such as immigration consultants, can also work under a legal aid certificate, provided they are supervised by a lawyer.

The legal aid payment rates are determined by negotiations between the BCMoJ and the British Columbia Bar Association (BCBA). The BCBA is authorized by law to act as the bargaining agent for all BC lawyers. BC lawyers are bound by any agreement between BCBA and the BCMoJ as to legal aid payment rates.

For this exercise, imagine that you want to know more about the most recent round of pay rate negotiations between the BCBA and the BCMoJ. You make a request to the BCMoJ for related memoranda and correspondence on this issue. The BCMoJ refuses your request on the grounds that this is "labour relations" information underFIPPA sub-paragraph 21(1)(a)(ii).

You think the BCMoJ is (mis)interpreting this term in section 21 so as to avoid giving you the information you seek. Based on the "plain meaning" of the term, you think that the term "labour relations" refers to negotiations between an employer and a labour union representing employees. You don't think there is any basis for interpreting the phrase to refer to negotiations between a government agency and an independent association representing professionals. You want to find information that will help you determine whether the BCMoJ's departure from the "plain meaning " approach is warranted.

Answer the following questions:

1. Consider sub-paragraphs 21(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the act. Is any one of these conditions sufficient to trigger a refusal to disclose? Or must all three be engaged to justify such a refusal?
2. What Division of the act is section 21 located in? Does the title of the division give you any assistance in interpreting the term "labour relations"? What about the heading for this section?
3. Navigate to the "Purpose" section of the act. What light, if any, does this shed on how we should interpret this term?
4. Navigate to the "Definitions" section of the Act. Where are the definitions located? Is there anything there that helps you interpret the term "labour relations"?
5. According to Nastasi, would it be helpful if you were able to find a definition of the term "labour relations" in other BC statutes?
6. What about if you were able to find the term defined in statutes of another province? Or federal statutes?
7. Assume you locate freedom of information statutes from each province and the federal jurisdiction.None of them contains a definition of "labour relations". What other resource(s) might you turn to for help in defining this term?
8. Based on the contextual and purposive approach to statutory interpretation, present a brief argument (three to five sentences) as to why the term "labour relations" should be interpreted in accordance with its plain meaning, thus requiring the BCMoJ to fulfil your request.