July 21, 2021
2021 Quebec Superior Court File 500-11-059267-209

The Logic Inc. (a Canadian subscription news service founded in 2018) filed a Motion to terminate a sealing order on exhibits filed before the Superior Court in civil proceedings seeking approval of an arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

The Motion was filed after the final judgment of the Superior Court was rendered and at that time, the exhibits were not in the court file. In fact, it was admitted at the hearing that the exhibits had never been physically in the file. Nevertheless, after the motion was filed, the parties requested that the exhibits be removed from the court file.

In accordance with the majority decision in MediaQMI Inc. v. Kamal (“QMI”), Justice Riordan determined that the Motion should be dismissed.

However, the particularity of this case was that the judgment specifically referred to Exhibit R-1, which was under seal. In fact, the judgment enforced the arrangement set out in R-1.

Given that R-1 was incorporated into the judgment, Justice Riordan ordered that R-1 be filed into the record and protected (by means of a conclusion ordering the parties not to remove the exhibit from the court file).

Finally, in weighing the benefits of the order against its negative effects, the Court referred to the fact that the Exhibit “provide[s] the actual content of the Final Judgment. As we note above, by hiding its terms, one decapitates the judgment.” (paragraph 46).

Consequently, it was ordered that Exhibit R-1 be produced and kept in the court file and that the sealing ordered be terminated.