The link #9 ... October 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.

Lauching of the Collection of Studies in Tax Law

On Thursday January 30th, 2003, the Association de planification fiscale et financière and the Department of Justice will launch the Collection of Studies in Tax Law: " The Harmonization of Federal Legislation with Quebec Civil Law and Canadian Bijuralism: Collection of Studies in Tax Law" (Only available in French). The book, published in October, 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, business (entreprise), employee and independent contractor. Although it is the third collection of studies pertaining to the harmonization of federal legislation with Quebec civil law, it is the first dealing solely with tax law issues and it is also the first that is published in collaboration with the private sector. One will recall that the second publication, published in 2001, is available on the internet at: The harmonization of federal legislation with the civil law of the province of quebec and canadian bijuralism.

Workshop on Harmonization and Bijuralism

The Department of Justice and the Canadian Tax Foundation (C.T.F.) held a workshop on Canadian bijuralism and tax legislation in Toronto on Tuesday, October 1st, 2002. The topics covered were the following: caselaw and interpretation rules since the introduction of sections 8.1 and 8.2 of the Interpretation Act (David Duff), the interaction between civil law trusts and the Income Tax Act (Diane Bruneau), the use of the concept of beneficial ownership: a common law perspective (Catherine Brown) and the use of the concept in the Income Tax Act (Mark Brender). The C.T.F. will publish papers based on their research reports in an upcoming issue of the Canadian Tax Journal.

For those who could not attend on October 2002, a second workshop on harmonization and bijuralism will be held by the C.T.F. in Toronto on February 6, 2003.

The Markevich case

The Supreme Court of Canada will be hearing the appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal's decision in the Markevich case next December 4th, 2002. The issue to be debated consists in determining if, in matters of limitation periods for tax debts, the Income Tax Act is a complete code and is dissociated from provincial private law as was decided by the Trial Division ( T-250-98 ) or if there is complementarity and a necessity to refer to provincial private law, as was stated by the Federal Court of Appeal ( 2001 FCA 144 ).