The appeal concerned whether Saskatchewan workers' compensation legislation permitting a board to recover unpaid assessments from a principal contractor, coupled with a right of indemnity and set-off against monies otherwise payable to a bankrupt contractor, conflicted with the federal bankruptcy priority scheme.
The majority held that the combined operation of s. 133(1) and s. 133(3) effectively secured the board's claim against the bankrupt estate and thereby reordered priorities fixed by s. 136 of the Bankruptcy Act.
Applying division of powers and paramountcy principles, the Court concluded the provision was inapplicable in bankruptcy to that extent.
The appeal was dismissed, with a four-judge dissent concluding the provincial provisions were complementary to the bankruptcy regime and preserved by s. 97(3).
