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As you'll learn in the rest of this section, there are even more rules about discovery and disclosure that do require someone to make a request. They include rules that let a party ask someone questions under oath or affirmation outside the courthouse, rules that let a party require someone to answer questions in an affidavit, and rules that let a party get documents and other information from people who aren't even involved in the court proceeding! The discovery and disclosure process is a critical part of the litigation process that the court takes very, very seriously.
==Rules about discovery and disclosure in the legislation==
It's not just the rules of court that have rules intended to encourage the discovery and disclosure process. The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' and the ''[[Divorce Act]]'' talk about discovery and disclosure as well. If a party to a court proceeding isn't complying with their obligations under the legislation, you can apply to court for an order forcing them to comply.
===The ''Divorce Act'' and the Child Support Guidelines===
Because court processes are developed by the provinces and territories, the ''Divorce Act'', a federal law, is pretty quiet about those things. It's not the job of the federal government to tell the provincial and terroritorial governments how to run their courts. However, the federal government does share jurisdiction over child support with the provinces, and section 7.4 of the ''Divorce Act'' imposes a duty on the people involved in a court proceeding to provide accurate information to each other and keep that information up to date:
<blockquote><tt>A party to a proceeding under this Act or a person who is subject to an order made under this Act shall provide complete, accurate and up-to-date information if required to do so under this Act</tt></blockquote>
That's important because section 26.1(1) lets the government makes regulations about how child support is calculated, including:
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(h) respecting the production of information relevant to an order for child support and providing for sanctions and other consequences when that information is not provided.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
And this is the "information" that a litigant can be required to provide under section 7.4. The details about what kind of "information" is relevant to an order for child support are listed in section 21 of the [[Child Support Guidelines]], a regulation to the ''Divorce Act''.
<blockquote><tt>(1) A spouse who is applying for a child support order and whose income information is necessary to determine the amount of the order must include the following with the application:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) a copy of every personal income tax return filed by the spouse for each of the three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) a copy of every notice of assessment and reassessment issued to the spouse for each of the three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) where the spouse is an employee, the most recent statement of earnings indicating the total earnings paid in the year to date, including overtime or, where such a statement is not provided by the employer, a letter from the spouse’s employer setting out that information including the spouse’s rate of annual salary or remuneration;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) where the spouse is self-employed, for the three most recent taxation years</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) the financial statements of the spouse’s business or professional practice, other than a partnership, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a statement showing a breakdown of all salaries, wages, management fees or other payments or benefits paid to, or on behalf of, persons or corporations with whom the spouse does not deal at arm’s length;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) where the spouse is a partner in a partnership, confirmation of the spouse’s income and draw from, and capital in, the partnership for its three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(f) where the spouse controls a corporation, for its three most recent taxation years</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) the financial statements of the corporation and its subsidiaries, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a statement showing a breakdown of all salaries, wages, management fees or other payments or benefits paid to, or on behalf of, persons or corporations with whom the corporation, and every related corporation, does not deal at arm’s length;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(g) where the spouse is a beneficiary under a trust, a copy of the trust settlement agreement and copies of the trust’s three most recent financial statements; and</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(h) in addition to any income information that must be included under paragraphs (c) to (g), where the spouse receives income from employment insurance, social assistance, a pension, workers compensation, disability payments or any other source, the most recent statement of income indicating the total amount of income from the applicable source during the current year, or if such a statement is not provided, a letter from the appropriate authority stating the required information.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
As you can see
===The ''Family Law Act''===
Because court processes are developed by the provinces and territories, the ''Divorce Act'', a federal law, is pretty quiet about those things.
==The Provincial Court==