The taxpayer used the proceeds of a $1 million bank loan to subscribe for common shares of an arm's length corporation ("Realwest"). After his common shares of Realwest had declined in value to $1,000, he (along with other investors in Realwest) transferred the shares of Realwest to a holding company in consideration for non-voting common shares of the holding company, thereby realizing an allowable business investment loss.
In finding that interest on the $1 million loan continued to be fully deductible following the transfer, Iacobucci J. found (at p. 6126) that "it is implicit in the principles outlined in Bronfman Trust that the ability to deduct interest is not lost simply because the taxpayer sells the income-producing property, as long as the taxpayer reinvests in an eligible use property" and noted (at p. 6127) that the alternative interpretation advanced by the Crown resulted in "an irrational asymmetry", i.e., if the replacement eligible property had a lower cost, there would be a loss of an interest deduction whereas, if the replacement eligible property had a higher cost, there would be no increase in the interest deduction.