. Canada (Transportation Safety Board) v. Carroll‑Byrne
In Canada (Transportation Safety Board) v. Carroll‑Byrne (SCC, 2022) the Supreme Court of Canada considered the disclosure of a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) in the course of civil class litigation regarding an airplane crash. The disclosure of the CVR - as an "on‑board recording" - was governed by the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act (CTAISBA). The case thus involves a balancing between the presumed evidentiary search for the truth on the one hand, and the specific statutory (and discretionary) privilege of the CTAISBA.
In this brief quote the court states a presumption about legislative changes:
[67] It is true that there is a presumption that legislative changes are to be viewed as purposive. However, this presumption can be displaced where the change to the law was not so intended (see R. Sullivan, The Construction of Statutes (7th ed. 2022), at § 23.02; P.-A. Côté and M. Devinat, Interprétation des lois (5th ed. 2021), at paras. 1470 and 1767). ...
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