Marceau,
J:—This
is
an
application
for
an
injunction
ordering
the
Minister
of
National
Revenue,
and
the
officers
empowered
to
act
for
this
purpose
in
his
name,
[not]
to
produce
in
the
Court
of
Sessions
of
the
Peace
in
Montreal
a
certificate
issued
under
subsection
244(4)
of
the
Income
Tax
Act
(Canada),
which
reads
as
follows:
244.
(4)
An
information
or
complaint
under
the
provisions
of
the
Criminal
Code
relating
to
summary
convictions,
in
respect
of
an
offence
under
this
Act,
may
be
laid
or
made
on
or
before
a
day
five
years
from
the
time
when
the
matter
of
the
information
or
complaint
arose
or
within
one
year
from
the
day
on
which
evidence,
sufficient
in
the
opinion
of
the
Minister
to
justify
a
prosecution
for
the
offence,
came
to
his
knowledge,
and
the
inister's
certificate
as
to
the
day
on
which
such
evidence
came
to
his
knowledge
is
conclusive
evidence
thereof.
Applicants,“
who
were
charged
in
the
Court
of
Sessions
of
the
Peace
in
Montreal
with
tax
evasion,
pleaded
not
guilty.
They
were
informed
of
the
contents
of
the
certificate
which
is
to
be
deposited
with
the
Court
to
determine
the
starting
point
of
the
period
of
limitation
of
one
year
[sic]
laid
down
in
subsection
244(4),
and
attempted
to
prevent
the
production
of
this
certificate,
claiming
that
the
facts
attested
to
therein
do
not
correspond
to
the
truth.
Applicants
admit
that
a
certificate
issued
by
the
Minister
under
subsection
244(4)
cannot
be
challenged
in
the
Court
where
it
is
produced,
and
they
say
that
it
is
precisely
for
this
reason
that
their
only
recourse
is
to
prevent
production
of
this
certificate
by
the
issuance
of
an
injunction
by
this
Court.
I
cannot
subscribe
to
such
reasoning.
Apart
from
the
question
of
whether,
on
the
one
hand,
an
injunction
against
the
Minister
is
possible
in
the
circumstances,
and,
on
the
other
hand,
whether
an
order
of
the
kind
desired
would
achieve
the
intended
purpose,
I
am
of
the
opinion
that
this
Court
does
not
now
have
the
power
to
verify
the
truth
of
facts
attested
to
in
the
certificate,
any
more
than
the
Court
of
Sessions
of
the
Peace
will
have
at
the
time
when
it
is
produced.
Moreover,
if
it
were
possible
to
challenge
the
contents
of
such
a
certificate,
such
a
challenge
should
be
made
in
the
Court
of
Sessions
of
the
Peace,
because
its
sole
aim
would
be
to
make
use
of
a
defence
against
the
charge,
namely
that
of
prescription.
The
application
for
an
injunction
is
accordingly
dismissed
with
costs.
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