W.
B.
Scorr,
K.C.,
P.M.—Each
of
the
defendants
is
charged
that
he
did
on
or
before
April
30,
1941,
make,
assent
and
acquiesce
in
the
making
of
a
false
or
deceptive
statement
in
a.
return
filed
by
him
for
income
tax
for
the
year
ending
December
31,
1940,
contrary
to
the
provisions
of
the
Income
War
Tax
Act
and
regulations
made
pursuant
thereto
and
did
thereby
commit
an
offence
under
the
said
Act.
These
charges
are
laid
under
Section
80
of
the
I
ncome
War
Tax
Act
as
amended
by
Section
18
of
Chapter
43
of
the
Statutes
of
1944,
assented
to
August
loth
of
that
year.
That
Section
provides
that
Section
80
of
the
Act
is
repealed
and
for
it
this
new
section
is
substituted.
A
further
subsection,
(4),
of
that
new
section
provides
that
an
information
or
complaint
under
Part
XV
of
the
Criminal
Code
in
respect
of
an
offence
under
this
section
or
Section
46(A)
may
be
laid
or
made
within
five
years
from
the
time
when
the
matter
of
the
information
or
complaint
arose.
In
my
opinion
the
new
enactment
goes
further
than
merely
to
affect
procedure,
and,
in
the
absence
of
express
terms
or
necessary
implication,
does
not
operate
retrospectively.
The
three
year
limit
under
the
original
Act
had
expired
before
the
new
one
became
in
force,
and,
on
the
authority
of
Rex
v.
Chandra
Dharma,
cited
by
Mr.
MacPherson,
I
think
the
charges
should
be
dismissed.
It
may
not
be
without
significance
that
in
Chapter
30
of
1928,
which
provided
for
the
three
year
period,
it
was
also
enacted
that
that
Act
shall
be
deemed
to
have
come
into
force
on
the
first
day
of
January
1926,
so
that
notwithstanding
any
other
prevision
relating
to
the
prosecution
of
offences,
any
offence
against
the
provisions
of
Section
80
of
the
Income
War
Tax
Act
committed
after
the
first
day
of
January
1926,
shall
be
punishable
within
three
years
from
the
time
when
the
matter
of
the
information
or
complaint
arose.
The
new
section
80
does
not
contain
a
similar
provision.