Gérard Beaupré

The appellants challenged municipal real estate and business tax assessments imposed after public hospital laundries were consolidated into a non-profit community laundry structure overseen by a regional council.

Applying the ordinary and teleological rules of tax interpretation, the Court held that tax exemptions are not automatically subject to strict construction and that substance may prevail over form where consistent with legislative purpose.

Although the appellants were not direct alter egos of the public establishments because the requisite control element was absent, the Court found an almost complete identity of patrimony between them and the member institutions.

The community laundry and the regional council were therefore entitled to the relevant exemptions under the municipal taxation statute, except that the regional council's 1987 claim was prescribed under the one-year limitation period.

The respondent purchased two subdivided lots from a developer under a contract where the developer retained ownership until the purchase price was paid in full.

Before the price was fully paid and ownership transferred, the Act to preserve agricultural land came into effect, prohibiting the alienation of the lots without authorization.

The developer subsequently transferred ownership to the respondent without authorization.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the contract created an obligation with a term, not a suspensive conditional obligation, and therefore the transfer of ownership was not retroactive to the date of the contract.

The Court also found that the respondent did not have an acquired right to the transfer under the Act.

The appeal was allowed and the deeds of sale were declared voidable.

The respondent sought a writ of mandamus to compel the municipal assessor to amend the 1980 real estate assessment roll to reflect the median proportion introduced by the new Act respecting municipal taxation.

The Superior Court dismissed the application, but the Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the assessor had an automatic duty to amend the roll.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, concluding that the new Act did not require the assessor to take the median proportion into account when preparing the roll, but only to indicate it on the roll once prepared.

As the assessor did not fail to perform a statutory duty, mandamus was not available.

The appellants appealed a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Quebec regarding the municipal assessment and valuation of an industrial complex.

The appellants challenged the finding of the municipal assessor and the application of a sale subsequent to the assessment to establish the real value.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, finding no basis to intervene with the Court of Appeal's disposition of the matters.