The Legislative Context

• Author: Ruth Sullivan
• Pages: 173-184

173

CH AP TER 10

THE LEGISL ATIV E

CONTEXT

The legislative context is comprised of all t he legislative texts th at may

be taken into account in interpretation. This consists of the Act as a

whole, related legislation (statutes in pari materia), the statute book as

a whole, and legislation enacted by other jurisdictions.

A. ACT AS A WHOLE

Courts often say that t he meaning of a word or expression can be fully

understood only if it is read in the context of the Act as a whole. In Gar-

land v Canada (Employment & Immigration Commission), for example,

Heald J wrote:

[I]t is necessar y to read the statute conta ining the words in is sue in

its entirety a s an initial step. Only a fter that has be en done can it be

determined w ith any precision whether or not the words bei ng inter-

preted are clear and un ambiguous.1

Although commonplace, this advice is somewhat mi sleading. In the

f‌irst place, it is not necessary to read every word of an enactment to get

a sense of an Act as a whole. What one looks for when considering an

1 [1985] 2 FC 508 at 515 (CA). This point has b een made in recent judgments of

the Supreme Court of Ca nada. See in particu lar Re Canada 3000 Inc, 2006 SCC

24 at paras 44 –45.