Métropolitaine (La), compagnie d'assurance-vie v. Frenette, Hôpital Jean-Talon et un autre, (1992) 134 N.R. 169 (SCC)

• Judge: Dubé, Gonthier and Cory, JJ.
• Court: Supreme Court (Canada)
• Case Date: March 12, 1992
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (1992), 134 N.R. 169 (SCC);[1992] 1 SCR 647;1992 CanLII 85 (SCC);89 DLR (4th) 653;134 NR 169;AZ-92111045;[1992] SCJ No 24 (QL);46 QAC 161

Metropolitan Life v. Frenette (1992), 134 N.R. 169 (SCC)

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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La Métropolitaine, compagnie d'assurance-vie (appellant) v. Raymond Frenette and Hôpital Jean-Talon (respondents)

(21765)

Indexed As: Métropolitaine (La), compagnie d'assurance-vie v. Frenette, Hôpital Jean-Talon et un autre

Supreme Court of Canada

Lamer, C.J.C., La Forest, L'Heureux-

Dubé, Gonthier and Cory, JJ.

March 12, 1992.

Summary:

In 1983, Patrick Frenette obtained a $10,000 Metropolitan Life insurance policy on his life. His father Raymond Frenette was the beneficiary. The policy provided for double indemnity in case of accidental death. Patrick signed a standard form authorizing Metropolitan Life to have access to his medical records "[a]ux fins d'appréciation des risques et d'étude des sinistres" ("for the purposes of risk assessment and loss analy­sis"). In 1986, Patrick's body was found by a fisherman in Rivière des Prairies. An autopsy revealed that death was probably caused by asphyxiation due to drowning. However, it was impossible to perform tests to detect traces of alcohol or toxins. Metro­politan Life paid Raymond the $10,000 basic indemnity but refused to pay the sup­plemen­tary indemnity for accidental death because it thought that death had been caused by suicide, a category excluded from entitle­ment to the supplementary indemnity. Raymond sued Metropolitan Life. At the discovery stage, Metropolitan Life presented a motion under arts. 20, 400 and 402 C.C.P. for the disclosure of medical records held by Hôpital Jean-Talon, to which Patrick had in the past gone for treatment. The motion was contested on grounds of professional secrecy and privilege. The Court of Quebec, in an unreported judgment, dismissed the motion. Metropolitan Life appealed.

The Quebec Court of Appeal, Malouf, J.A., dissenting, in a judgment reported [1990] R.J.Q. 62; 34 Q.A.C. 143, dismissed the appeal. Metropolitan Life appealed again.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal.

Civil Rights - Topic 7125

Federal or provincial legislation - Particu­lar rights - Right to privacy - A benefi­ciary sued an insurer for a supplementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supple­mentary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclo­sure of all medical records held by a hos­pital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legislations providing for the right to privacy and the right to pro­fessional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Pro­cedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Droits et libertés - Cote 7125

Législation fédérale ou provinciale - Droits particuliers - Droit à la vie privée-[Voir Civil Rights - Topic 7125 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 7129

Federal or provincial legislation - Particu­lar rights - Professional secrecy - A ben- eficiary sued an insurer for a supplemen­tary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supple­mentary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclo­sure of all medical records held by a hos­pital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legislations providing for the right to privacy and the right to pro­fessional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Pro­cedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Droits et libertés - Cote 7129

Législation fédérale ou provinciale - Droits particuliers - Secret professionnel - [Voir Civil Rights - Topic 7129 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 7130

Federal or provincial legislation - Particu­lar rights - Professional secrecy, waiver of - In 1983, the insured signed a form au­thorizing the insurer to have access to his medical records "for the purposes of risk assessment and loss analysis" - The insured died in 1986, probably by accident - The beneficiary sued the insurer for the supplementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity, applied for an order for the disclosure of all medi­cal records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application because, subject to superseding legislation, the insured had waived the professional secrecy attaching to the medical records - See paragraphs 23 to 38.

Droits et libertés - Cote 7130

Législation fédérale ou provinciale - Droits particuliers - Renonciation au secret professionnel - [Voir Civil Rights - Topic 7130 ].

Insurance - Topic 1861

The contract - Interpretation - Contra proferentem rule, ambiguity construed against the insurer - An insured signed a form authorizing a life insurer to have access to his medical records "[a]ux fins d'appréciation des risques et d'étude des sinistres" ("for the purposes of risk assess­ment and loss analysis") - Having to interpret this form the Supreme Court of Canada discussed the rules on the inter­pretation of insurance contracts, applied them and held that the words used here were clear and unambiguous, needed no interpretation and that therefore the contra proferentem rule did not apply - See paragraphs 23 to 35.

Assurance - Cote 1861

Le contrat - Interprétation - Règle dite "contra proferentem" - [Voir Insurance - Topic 1861 ].

Insurance - Topic 7282

Life insurance - Actions - Insurer's right to disclosure of insured's medical records - In 1983, the insured signed a form autho­rizing the insurer to have access to his medical records "for the purposes of risk assessment and loss analysis" - The insured died in 1986, probably by accident - The beneficiary sued the insurer for the supplementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity, applied for an order for the disclosure of all medi­cal records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application because, subject to superseding legislation, the insured had waived the professional secrecy attaching to the medical records - See paragraphs 23 to 38.

Insurance - Topic 7282

Life insurance - Actions - Insurer's right to disclosure of insured's medical records - A beneficiary sued an insurer for a sup­plementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclosure of all medical records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legisla­tions providing for the right to privacy and the right to professional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Assurance - Cote 7282

Assurance-vie - Actions - Droit de l'as­sureur à la divulgation des dossiers médi­caux de l'assuré - [Voir Insurance - Topic 7282 ].

Practice - Topic 4576

Discovery - What documents must be produced - Privileged documents, doctor and hospital records - A beneficiary sued an insurer for a supplementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclosure of all medical records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legislations providing for the right to privacy and the right to professional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Procédure - Cote 4576

Enquête préalable - Documents devant être produits - Documents privilégiés, dossiers médicaux et hospitaliers - [Voir Practice - Topic 4576 ].

Quebec Procedure - Topic 4145

Discovery - What documents must be produced - Documents relating to matters in issue - A beneficiary sued an insurer for a supplementary indemnity for acci­dental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclosure of all medical records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legislations providing for the right to privacy and the right to professional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Québec: Procédure - Cote 4145

Interrogatoire préalable - Documents devant être produits - Documents se rap­portant au litige - [Voir Quebec Proce­dure - Topic 4145 ].

Quebec Procedure - Topic 4147

Discovery - What documents must be produced - Documents in possession of third party - A beneficiary sued an insurer for a supplementary indemnity for acci­dental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclosure of all medical records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legislations providing for the right to privacy and the right to professional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Québec: Procédure - Cote 4147

Interrogatoire préalable - Documents devant être produits - Documents en pos­session de tiers - [Voir Quebec Proce­dure - Topic 4147 ].

Quebec Procedure - Topic 4152

Discovery - What documents must be produced - Privileged documents, medical records - A beneficiary sued an insurer for a supplementary indemnity for accidental death - The insurer, seeking to ascertain cause of death and consequent entitlement to the supplementary indemnity claimed, applied at discovery stage for an order for the disclosure of all medical records held by a hospital visited by the insured before and after the issuance of the policy - The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the application - The court examined the Quebec human rights and health legisla­tions providing for the right to privacy and the right to professional secrecy and its exceptions and discussed the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure articles dealing with full disclosure and the courts' power to order it - See paragraphs 39 to 79.

Québec: Procédure - Cote 4152

Interrogatoire préalable - Documents devant être produits - Documents privilé­giés, dossiers médicaux - [Voir Quebec Procedure - Topic 4152 ].

Cases Noticed:

Jones v. National Coal Board, [1957] 2 Q.B. 55 (C.A.), consd. [para. 20].

Caisse populaire des Deux rives v. Vallée du Richelieu (La), compagnie mutuelle d'assurance de dommages, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 995; 115 N.R. 1; 34 Q.A.C. 241, consd. [para. 23].

Consolidated-Bathurst Export Ltd. v. Mutual Boiler and Machinery Insurance Co., [1980] 1 S.C.R. 888; 32 N.R. 488, refd to. [para. 24].

Trempe v. Dow Chemical of Canada Ltd., [1980] C.A. 571, refd to. [para. 46].

Cordeau v. Cordeau, [1984] R.D.J. 201, consd. [para. 46].

Paillé v. Lorcon Inc., [1986] R.D.J. 278, refd to. [para. 46].

Groupe Desjardins, Assurances générales et Zurich, Compagnie d'assurance v. Héritiers de feu Léon Rousseau et de feue Louise Dumas-Roy, [1989] R.J.Q. 785; 32 Q.A.C. 241 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 47].

Société centrale d'hypothèque et de loge­ment v. Pagé, [1977] C.A. 560, refd to. [para. 47].

Audet v. Hôtel-Dieu de Salaberry de Valleyfield, [1974] R.P. 236 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 57].

Lindsay v. Henri Laflamme Inc., J.E. 89-760 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 57].

Rothpan v. 123870 Canada Inc., J.E. 89-1111 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 57].

Coffey v. Tran, J.E. 91-223 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 58].

Lussier and others v. Goulet, [1989] R.J.Q. 2085; 32 Q.A.C. 225 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 58].

Taxi Newman Lafleur v. Cie d'assurances Provinces-Unies, [1991] R.R.A. 411 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 59].

Impériale, Cie d'assurance-vie v. Succes­sion de Roy, [1990] R.J.Q. 2468 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 59].

Robitaille v. Cie d'assurance C.N.A., J.E. 79-565 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 59].

Laprise v. Bonneau, [1985] C.A. 9, consd. [para. 60].

Hay et al. v. University of Alberta and Sterns et al. (1990), 105 A.R. 276; 69 D.L.R.(4th) 755 (Alta. Q.B.), consd. [para. 66].

Cook v. Washuta (1985), 11 O.A.C. 171; 52 O.R. 289 (C.A.), consd. [para. 67].

Furlano v. Calarco (1987), 60 O.R.(2d) 451, refd to. [para. 70].

Tamssot v. Belgrano (1987), 59 O.R.(2d) 57, refd to. [para. 70].

Dufault v. Stevens (1978), 6 B.C.L.R. 199, consd. [para. 72].

Halliday v. McCulloch (1986), 1 B.C.L.R.(2d) 194 (C.A.), consd. [para. 73].

Statutes Noticed:

British Columbia Supreme Court Rules, rule 26(11).

Charter of Human Rights and Free­doms/Charte des droits et libertés de la personne, R.S.Q. 1977, c. C-12, sect. 5, sect. 9, sect. 52, sect. 53.

Civil Code of Lower Canada/Code civil du Bas-Canada, art. 1013, art. 1014, art. 1015, art. 1016, art. 1017, art. 1018, art. 1019, art. 1020, art. 1021, art. 1019, art. 1056, art. 1204, art. 2468, art. 2499, art. 2528.

Code of Civil Procedure (Que.)/Code de procédure civile (Qué.), arts. 2, 20, 399, 399.1, 400, 402.

Health Services and Social Services Act/Services de santé et les services sociaux, Loi sur les, R.S.Q. 1977, c. S-5, sect. 1(a), sect. 7, sect. 8.

Medical Act/Loi médicale, R.S.Q. 1977, c. M-9, sect. 42.

Rules of Civil Procedure (Ont.), rule 3010.

Authors and Works Noticed:

Bergeron, Jean-Guy, Les contrats d'assu­rances (terrestre), 1989, t. 1, p. 106 [para. 24].

Bernardot, Alain and Robert P. Kouri, La responsabilité civile médicale, 1980, p. 159 [para. 58].

Birds, John, Modern Insurance Law, 1988, pp. 8-9 [para. 27].

Ducharme, Léo, Le secret médical et l'ar­ticle 9 de la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne (1984), 44 R. du B. 955, pp. 959-960 [paras. 42, 45].

Knoppers, Bartha, Confidentiality and Accessibility of Medical Information: A Comparative Analysis (1982), 12 R.D.U.S. 395, p. 401 [para. 66].

Lajoie, Andrée, Patrick A. Molinari and Jean-Marie Auby, Traité de droit de la santé et des services sociaux, 1981, p. 256 [para. 42].

McLachlin, Beverley M. and James P. Taylor, British Columbia Practice (2nd Ed. 1991), vol. 1, pp. 26, 142, 150 [para. 73].

Molot, Henry L., Non-Disclosure of Evi­dence, Adverse Inferences and the Court's Search for Truth (1971), 10 Alta. L. Rev. 45 [para. 20].

Morissette, Yves-Marie and Daniel W. Shuman, Le secret professionnel au Québec: une hydre à trente-neuf têtes rôde dans le droit de la preuve (1984), 25 C. de D. 501 [para. 42].

Norwood, David, Life Insurance Law in Canada, 1977, pp. 311-312 [para. 32]; 313-317 [para. 33].

Quebec, Legislative Assembly, Bill 20: Code of Civil Procedure, Québec Queen's Printer, 1965, pp. I-VIa [para. 52]; 79a) [para. 54].

Royer, Jean-Claude, La preuve civile, 1987, p. 405 [para. 44].

Solus, Henry et Roger Perrot, Droit judiciaire privé, 1961, t. 1, p. 13 [para. 52].

Sopinka, John and Sidney N. Lederman, The Law of Evidence in Civil Cases, 1974, pp. 206-209 [para. 66].

Watt, Alastair M., Le secret professionnel (1945), 5 R. du B. 189, pp. 195-196 [para. 61].

Wigmore, John Henry, Evidence in Trials at Common Law, 1961, vol. 8, p. 854 [para. 62].

Counsel:

Marzia Frascadore and Marc-André Blanchard, for the appellant;

Jacques Marquis, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Lafleur, Brown and Ass., Montreal, Que., for the appellant;

Jacques Marquis, Montreal, Que., for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on November 6, 1991, by Lamer, C.J.C., La Forest, L'Heu­reux-Dubé, Gonthier and Cory, JJ., of the Supreme Court of Canada.

The judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered in both official languages on March 12, 1992, by L'Heureux-Dubé, J.