THE LINK (November 10th 2004)

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.

Harmonization Bill No. 2:  On October 19, Harmonization Bill No. 2 was tabled in the Senate and became Bill S-10.  It received first reading on October 19 2004 and second reading on October 26 2004 before being referred to the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.  Bill S-10 follows Bill C-37 which had been tabled in the House of Commons in May 2004 but died on the Order Paper.

"As its title indicates, Bill S-10 is the second of a series of bills, all of which have the same purpose:  to harmonize federal law with the civil law of the Province of Quebec by amending certain federal statutes so that both the French-language and English-language versions take into account the common law and the civil law.  With a few exceptions, this second series of harmonization proposals is designed to complete the harmonization of all of the Acts that were partially harmonized by the Federal Law–Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1 in 2001.  As only some fields of private law were taken into account at that time, this second series of proposals covers the remaining fields of private law." ( Legislative Summary, prepared by Wade Raaflaub)

Certain taxation acts are partially harmonized in Bill S-10: the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Pension Plan, the Customs Act and the Excise Act.   The following concepts are harmonized in these acts: (1) the civil law term "liquidator of a succession" is added where reference is made to the "executor"; (2) in the English version, the civil law term "solidary liability" is added where the expression "joint and several liability" is used; and (3) in the English version, the civil law terms "hypothecary creditor" and "hypothecary debtor" are added where reference is made to the terms "mortgagee" and "mortgagor".  

Study in Comparative Law:   A comparative analysis of the civil law leasing and the common law's lease financing was published as in the A.P.F.F.’s Revue de planification fiscale et successorale (2004, vol. 25, No. 2) : "La location à bail, la location à titre de sûreté en common law et le crédit-bail du droit civil québécois". The paper is presently available only in French. 

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