Sure, but this just isn’t true. It’s normal in Canada for a losing party to dispute the opposition councils bill on the grounds of hourly rates, disbursements and time spent. In some provinces the dispute is handled by a regulatory body, or you can go back to court to figure it out.

The dispute isn’t about not paying, it’s about ensuring that they pay a reasonable amount. And since the federal government is spending public money, they have the obligation to ensure the rate is reasonable and pursue disputes when they think it isn’t reasonable.

If the federal government didn’t act in this way, they’d be on the hook for unreasonable fees every time they lost a case.