The link #8 ... September 2002

The tax law team of the Bijuralism & Drafting Support Services Group of the Department of Justice of Canada is pleased to keep you posted on the most recent harmonization news.

The Schreiber case

Although the litigation in Schreiber v. Canada pertains to the State Immunity Act, Justice Lebel also analyses, in the Court's unanimous decision, the interpretation of bilingual statutes and of provisions that have been subject to harmonization amendments. In the Court's decision, reference is made to the bijural terminology records as well as to the second collection of studies on harmonization and bijuralism. The Court states that "the purpose of the Harmonization Act is to highlight bijural terminology used by common law and civil law systems, and does not substantively change the law as set out in the statute". A copy of the judgment is enclosed, the part on harmonization having been highlighted (paragraphs 66 -80).

Workshop on Harmonization and Bijuralism

The Department of Justice and the Canadian Tax Foundation (C.T.F.) will be holding a workshop on Canadian bijuralism and tax legislation in Toronto on Tuesday, October 1st, 2002. The speakers will be Professors David Duff (interpretation and caselaw) and Catherine Brown (use of the concept of beneficial ownership: a common law perspective), Me Diane Bruneau (trusts: a civil law perspective) and Me Mark Brender (use of the concept of beneficial ownership in the Income Tax Act). The C.T.F. will publish papers based on their research reports in an upcoming issue of the Canadian Tax Journal.

Articles on Canadian Bijuralism: In a few days, the Association de planification fiscale et financière will publish a collection of studies, prepared in collaboration with the Department of Justice: "The Harmonization of Federal Legislation with Quebec Civil Law and Canadian Bijuralism: Collection of Studies in Tax Law". It contains, inter alia, research reports prepared for the Department of Justice on the following subjects: partnerships, the concepts of right and interest, the concept of licence, conditional obligations, the concepts of residence, employee vs. independent contractor and business (entreprise).