The Federal Court of Appeal on Wednesday ruled the CBC must hand over documents to the federal information commissioner that it previously held were exempt from public disclosure.

Justices Marc Noel, Johann Trudel and Robert Mainville dismissed an appeal by the pubcaster of an earlier decision by the Federal Court where Justice Boivin rejected the CBC’s application for a judicial review of information commissioner Suzanne Legault’s authority to see key documents.

“It follows that if the Commissioner has the power to order the CBC to produce the records at issue in the case at bar, it is because section 68.1, by its wording, so provides, as was found by the Federal Court Judge,” Justice Marc Noel wrote in the appeal court decision that upheld the lower court ruling.

The CBC argued Legault wrongly interpreted section 68.1, a stance the appeals court rejected.

The pubcaster must now release records it previously held were protected because they related to journalistic, creative or programming activities. Last week, the CBC handed over a series of documents related to the matter, but it “did so under protest” and kept many of the documents sealed.

Legault in turn will have an opportunity to review documents that rival broadcaster Quebecor Media has put in numerous requests to receive as part of freedom of information requests.

The recent court battles were preceded by a public feud between the CBC and Quebecor, where each accused the other of not being fully accountable to Canadian taxpayers.

The pubcaster also contended it had the right to report on its finances to Parliament, the CRTC, and the federal Auditor General, and not bow to document requests from the federal information commissioner.

The recent court decisions have now spelled out more clearly which materials the CBC must disclose, and to whom.