Before finding that a transfer by the taxpayer of its flavouring business to an affiliated company with a history of losses (coupled with the agreement of the taxpayer to act as the affiliated company's agent respecting that business) was a legally effective transaction and also was effective for tax purposes, Estey J stated:
…This expression [sham] comes to us from decisions in the United Kingdom, and it has been generally taken to mean (but not without ambiguity) a transaction conducted with an element of deceit so as to create an illusion calculated to lead the tax collector away from the taxpayer or the true nature of the transaction; or, simple deception whereby the taxpayer creates a façade of reality quite different from the disguised reality.