Before denying a motion of the Crown to add an allegation of “window dressing” in its pleadings, Sommerfeldt J stated (footnote 39).
It is my understanding that the ordinary dictionary meaning of the term is “an adroit presentation of facts etc. to give a deceptively favourable impression” (Katherine Barber (editor), Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 1783); or “[t]he deceptive arrangement of something, usu. facts or appearances, to make it appear more attractive or favorable” (Bryan A. Garner (editor), Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed. (St. Paul: Thomson Reuters, 2014), p. 1835). Based on those dictionary meanings, it appears that, while a sham involves deceitfully misrepresenting the nature of a transaction, window dressing would seem to entail deceptively making facts appear better or more favourable than they actually are.