The applicant, as financial agent for a federal nomination contestant, sought a court order extending the deadline to file a nomination campaign return under the Canada Elections Act.
The court held that s. 478.34 required two mandatory preconditions: a prior application to the Chief Electoral Officer and a court application brought within two weeks of the rejection or expiry of that extension.
Because neither precondition was met, the court found it lacked jurisdiction to grant the requested relief.
The court also rejected any residual common law discretion to extend the statutory deadline, distinguishing earlier authority and relying on subsequent appellate law on statutory time limits.
