Excise Act, 2001

Marginal note:Definitions applicable to confidentiality provisions

• 211 (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

  authorized person

  personne autorisée

  authorized person means a person who is engaged or employed, or who was formerly engaged or employed, by or on behalf of Her Majesty to assist in carrying out the provisions of this Act. (personne autorisée)

  business number

  numéro d’entreprise

  business number means the number (other than a Social Insurance Number) used by the Minister to identify

  • (a) a licensee or a registrant for the purposes of this Act; or

  • (b) an applicant for a refund under this Act. (numéro d’entreprise)

  confidential information

  renseignement confidentiel

  confidential information means information of any kind and in any form that relates to one or more persons and that is

  • (a) obtained by or on behalf of the Minister for the purposes of this Act;

  • (a.1) obtained by or on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness for the purposes of section 68; or

  • (b) prepared from information referred to in paragraph (a) or (a.1).

  It excludes information that does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the person to whom it relates. (renseignement confidentiel)

  court of appeal

  cour d’appel

  court of appeal has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Criminal Code. (cour d’appel)

  official

  fonctionnaire

  official means a person who is employed in the service of, who occupies a position of responsibility in the service of, or who is engaged by or on behalf of, Her Majesty or Her Majesty in right of a province, or a person who was formerly so employed, who formerly occupied such a position or who formerly was so engaged. (fonctionnaire)

• Marginal note:Provision of information

  (2) Except as authorized under this section, no official shall knowingly

  • (a) provide, or allow to be provided, to any person any confidential information;

  • (b) allow any person to have access to any confidential information; or

  • (c) use any confidential information other than in the course of the administration or enforcement of this Act.

• Marginal note:Confidential information evidence not compellable

  (3) Despite any other Act of Parliament or other law, no official shall be required, in connection with any legal proceedings, to give or produce evidence relating to any confidential information.

• Marginal note:Communications if proceedings have been commenced

  (4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to

  • (a) criminal proceedings, either by indictment or on summary conviction, that have been commenced by the laying of an information or the preferring of an indictment, under an Act of Parliament; or

  • (b) any legal proceedings relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act, the Canada Pension Plan, the Employment Insurance Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act or any other Act of Parliament or law of a province that provides for the imposition or collection of a tax or duty.

• Marginal note:Authorized provision of information

  (5) The Minister may provide appropriate persons with any confidential information that may reasonably be regarded as necessary solely for a purpose relating to the life, health or safety of an individual or to the environment in Canada or any other country.

• Marginal note:Disclosure of personal information

  (6) An official may

  • (a) provide any confidential information to any person that may reasonably be regarded as necessary for the purpose of the administration or enforcement of this Act, solely for that purpose;

  • (b) provide a person with confidential information that can reasonably be regarded as necessary for the purposes of determining any liability or obligation of the person or any refund or other payment to which the person is or may become entitled under this Act;

  • (c) provide, allow to be provided, or allow inspection of or access to any confidential information to or by any person, or any person within a class of persons, that the Minister may authorize, subject to any conditions that the Minister may specify;

  • (d) provide any person who is legally entitled under an Act of Parliament to confidential information with, or access to, that information, solely for the purposes for which the person is entitled to the information;

  • (e) provide confidential information

    • (i) to an official of the Department of Finance solely for the purpose of the formulation or evaluation of fiscal policy,

    • (ii) to an official solely for the purpose of the initial implementation of a fiscal policy or for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the Canada Pension Plan, the Employment Insurance Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act or an Act of Parliament that provides for the imposition or collection of a tax or duty,

    • (iii) to an official solely for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of a law of a province that provides for the imposition or collection of a tax or duty,

    • (iv) to an official of the government of a province solely for the purpose of the formulation or evaluation of fiscal policy,

    • (v) to an official of a department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province as to the name, address, occupation, size or type of business of a person, solely for the purpose of enabling the department or agency to obtain statistical data for research and analysis,

    • (vi) to an official solely for the purpose of setting off, against any sum of money that may be due or payable by Her Majesty, a debt due to

      • (A) Her Majesty, or

      • (B) Her Majesty in right of a province on account of taxes payable to the province, if an agreement exists between Canada and the province under which Canada is authorized to collect taxes on behalf of the province, or

    • (vii) to an official solely for the purposes of section 7.1 of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act;

  • (f) provide confidential information solely for the purposes of sections 23 to 25 of the Financial Administration Act;

  • (g) use confidential information to compile information in a form that does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the person to whom the information relates;

  • (h) use, or provide any person with, confidential information solely for a purpose relating to the supervision, evaluation or discipline of an authorized person by Her Majesty in respect of a period during which the authorized person was employed by or engaged by or on behalf of Her Majesty to assist in the administration or enforcement of this Act, to the extent that the information is relevant for that purpose;

  • (i) use confidential information relating to a person to provide that person with information;

  • (j) provide the business number, name, address, telephone number and facsimile number of a holder of a business number to an official of a department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province solely for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of an Act of Parliament or a law of a province, if the holder of the business number is required under that Act or that law to provide the information (other than the business number) to the department or agency; or

  • (k) provide confidential information to a police officer (within the meaning assigned by subsection 462.48(17) of the Criminal Code) solely for the purpose of investigating whether an offence has been committed under the Criminal Code, or the laying of an information or the preferring of an indictment, if

    • (i) the information can reasonably be regarded as being relevant for the purpose of ascertaining the circumstances in which an offence under the Criminal Code may have been committed, or the identity of the person or persons who may have committed an offence, with respect to an official, or with respect to any person related to that official,

    • (ii) the official was or is engaged in the administration or enforcement of this Act, and

    • (iii) the offence can reasonably be considered to be related to that administration or enforcement.

• Marginal note:Measures to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure

  (7) The person presiding at a legal proceeding relating to the supervision, evaluation or discipline of an authorized person may order any measures that are necessary to ensure that confidential information is not used or provided to any person for any purpose not relating to that proceeding, including

  • (a) holding a hearing in camera;

  • (b) banning the publication of the information;

  • (c) concealing the identity of the person to whom the information relates; and

  • (d) sealing the records of the proceeding.

• Marginal note:Disclosure to person or on consent

  (8) An official may provide confidential information relating to a person

  • (a) to that person; and

  • (b) with the consent of that person, to any other person.

• Marginal note:Appeal from order or direction

  (9) An order or direction that is made in the course of or in connection with any legal proceedings and that requires an official to give or produce evidence relating to any confidential information may, by notice served on all interested parties, be appealed immediately by the Minister or by the person against whom it is made to

  • (a) the court of appeal of the province in which it is made, in the case of an order or direction made by a court or other tribunal established under the laws of the province, whether that court or tribunal is exercising a jurisdiction conferred by the laws of Canada; or

  • (b) the Federal Court of Appeal, in the case of an order or direction made by a court or other tribunal established under the laws of Canada.

• Marginal note:Disposition of appeal

  (10) The court to which an appeal is taken may allow the appeal and quash the order or direction appealed from or may dismiss the appeal, and the rules of practice and procedure from time to time governing appeals to the courts shall apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of the appeal.

• Marginal note:Stay

  (11) An appeal shall stay the operation of the order or direction appealed from until judgment is pronounced.