A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dismissed an application to remove the lead investigator in a case involving Gloria Lemay and the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives. The judge ruled the investigator did not breach legal advice privilege during the seizure of documents from Lemay香蕉视频直播檚 home.
The College was investigating an alleged incident of unauthorized midwifery on Jan. 5, 2024. That investigation led to a court-authorized search of Lemay香蕉视频直播檚 home on Jan. 30. The search was authorized under the Health Professions Act.
The application stemmed from a Jan. 30, 2024, search of Lemay香蕉视频直播檚 home. During the search, the College seized a box of documents referred to as 香蕉视频直播淏ox T.香蕉视频直播� Lemay asserted that some of the contents were subject to legal advice privilege and applied to have lead investigator JT Michaelis Beck removed from the file.
Beck is legal counsel for the College香蕉视频直播檚 Inquiry, Discipline and Monitoring Department. Lemay argued Beck may have been exposed to privileged material during the search and subsequent review of the box.
Justice Elwood found that while the College came into possession of potentially privileged documents 香蕉视频直播渢hrough inadvertence and sloppy investigative work,香蕉视频直播� the College had met the legal test to rebut presumed prejudice, and that Beck could remain on the file.
The judge also noted that Beck failed to properly review the documents on site before seizing the entire box, and that best practice would have been to involve an independent solicitor to assess any potentially privileged material. However, the judge accepted Beck香蕉视频直播檚 sworn evidence that they did not read any of the documents for their content, either during the search or a subsequent review on March 13.
In reaching a decision, Justice Elwood referred to earlier rulings in MacDonald Estate v. Martin and Celanese Canada Inc. v. Murray Demolition Corp., which set out the legal test for when a lawyer 香蕉视频直播� or in this case, an investigator 香蕉视频直播� should be removed from a file due to exposure to privileged information.
香蕉视频直播淲hile I have concerns with the manner in which Mx. Beck handled Box T,香蕉视频直播� Elwood wrote, 香蕉视频直播淚 am satisfied that the College has met the test 香蕉视频直播� to rebut the presumed prejudice.香蕉视频直播�
Box T was returned to Lemay on March 28. With the exception of a single letter over which no privilege was claimed, no documents were copied or scanned prior to the return.
While no costs were awarded against Lemay, the College has the option to seek costs through written submissions.
香蕉视频直播淚n my view, there is no prejudice to Ms. Lemay香蕉视频直播檚 right to a fair hearing or to the integrity of the justice system that will be manifested, perpetuated, or aggravated through allowing these proceedings to continue,香蕉视频直播� Elwood concluded.
The proceedings relate to a 2000 injunction prohibiting Lemay from performing midwifery services and are ongoing.
Lemay is also facing a manslaughter charge in the death of an infant in Ladysmith in 2024, and a civil suit brought by a Chemainus couple related to issues with the birth of their son in 2021.
