Frédéric Joseph Maxime Plamondon

The appellant trustee challenged a formal demand for information and documents issued by the Quebec tax authority (ARQ) to an out-of-province bank branch as beyond the ARQ's territorial jurisdiction.

The ARQ had sent the demand to a Calgary branch of the National Bank of Canada pursuant to s. 462(2) of the Bank Act, which requires notifications pertaining to bank customers to be sent to the branch of account.

The Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, holding that s. 462(2) — not s. 462(1) — applied to the demand, that the Bank Act does not treat a branch as a distinct entity from the bank for purposes of such a demand, and that complying with s. 462(2)'s procedural requirements did not render the ARQ's actions extraterritorial or ultra vires, since enforcement could only be effected in Quebec against a bank operating within the province.

The Court considered whether section 27 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act removes Crown immunity from discovery when the Crown is not a party.

It held that immunity can be displaced only by clear statutory language, and section 27 applies only to proceedings against the Crown.

Because neither the Crown nor the chief investigator was a party, the investigator could refuse discovery.

The appeal was allowed and the respondents’ discovery motion was dismissed with costs throughout.