R. v. Skjonsby (R.G.), 2011 SKQB 341

• Judge: Rothery, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: September 19, 2011
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2011 SKQB 341;(2011), 383 Sask.R. 97 (QB)

R. v. Skjonsby (R.G.) (2011), 383 Sask.R. 97 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2011] Sask.R. TBEd. SE.064

Her Majesty the Queen, as represented by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (appellant) v. Richard Gordon Skjonsby (respondent)

(2011 QBCA 10; 2011 SKQB 341)

Indexed As: R. v. Skjonsby (R.G.)

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Saskatoon

Rothery, J.

September 19, 2011.

Summary:

The Crown applied pursuant to s. 734.7 of the Criminal Code for a warrant of committal in default of payment of fines resulting from the accused's convictions for failure to file personal income tax returns and corporate tax returns. The summary conviction court determined that no warrant of committal be issued. The Crown appealed.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the appeal.

Criminal Law - Topic 5631

Punishments (sentence) - Fines, penalties and compensation orders - Fine - Default - Imprisonment - The Crown appealed the determination of the summary conviction court that no warrant of committal be issued against Skjonsby for default of payment of fines resulting from his conviction of offences pursuant to the Income Tax Act - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the appeal - "The summary conviction court was satisfied that Skjonsby refused to pay his fines without reasonable excuse. The court did not find Skjonsby impoverished. Thus, the court was required to issue a warrant of committal in default of payment of those fines. There was no requirement for the court also to be satisfied that the collection mechanisms in Skjonsby's situation were inappropriate. Because the word 'or' must be read as 'or' in cases other than a reasonable excuse resulting from poverty, there was no requirement for the Crown to complete the preliminary steps as outlined by the learned Provincial Court judge" - See paragraph 11.

Criminal Law - Topic 5631

Punishments (sentence) - Fines, penalties and compensation orders - Fine - Default - Imprisonment - The accused was fined $18,000 for seven convictions for failure to file personal income tax returns and corporate tax returns - $16,500 remained outstanding - The Crown registered a writ of execution on the house that the accused jointly owned - The house was exempt from execution for so long as the accused occupied it (Exemptions Act (Sask.), s. 2(1))) - On the expiration of the time allowed for payment in full, the Crown applied for a warrant of committal (Criminal Code, s. 734.7) - The trial judge concluded that, because the Crown failed to satisfy the court that the civil enforcement mechanisms provided by ss. 734.5 and 734.6 were not appropriate, a warrant of committal could not issue - On appeal, while that issue did not need to be addressed, the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench stated that "It would be unlikely that an offender's entitlement to an exemption delaying the Crown on realizing on its writ of execution constitutes a collection mechanism that is 'not appropriate' as contemplated by s. 734.7(1)(b)(i) of the Criminal Code" - Had that issue been the ground for appeal, the trial judge's conclusion would have been correct in law - See paragraph 15.

Criminal Law - Topic 5634

Punishments (sentence) - Fines, penalties and compensation orders - Fine - Civil enforcement - [See second Criminal Law - Topic 5631 ].

Income Tax - Topic 9685

Tax evasion and tax avoidance - Punishments - Sentence - Fines (incl. default) - [See both Criminal Law - Topic 5631 ].

Statutes - Topic 2414

Interpretation - Interpretation of words and phrases - General principles - Disjunctive words or phrases - [See first Criminal Law - Topic 5631 ].

Words and Phrases

Or - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench addressed the proper interpretation of "or" in s. 734.7(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 - See paragraphs 9 to 14.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Wu (Y.), [2003] 3 S.C.R. 530; 313 N.R. 201; 182 O.A.C. 6; 2003 SCC 73, consd. [para. 4].

Armbruster (Bankrupt), Re (2010), 362 Sask.R. 200; 500 W.A.C. 200; 2010 SKCA 125, consd. [para. 13].

Statutes Noticed:

Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, sect. 734.5 [para. 5]; sect. 734.6 [para. 6]; sect. 734.7(1) [para. 3]; sect. 734.7(4) [para. 17].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Sullivan, Ruth, Sullivan and Driedger on the Construction of Statutes (4th Ed. 2002), pp. 168, 169 [para. 10].

Counsel:

A. Newsham, for the appellant;

R.G. Skjonsby, for himself.

This appeal was heard before Rothery, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Saskatoon, who delivered the following decision and reasons for decision, dated September 19, 2011.