MNR v. Taylor, 56 DTC 1125, [1956] CTC 189 (Ex Ct) -- summary under Commodities, and commodities futures and derivatives

Because the parent corporation of the taxpayer's employer ("Canada Metal") prohibited Canada Metal from dealing in futures or purchasing lead substantially in advance of its delivery, the taxpayer, who was Canada Metal's general manager and who perceived a substantial business advantage to Canada Metal in securing a substantial purchase of lead from overseas, entered into a contract for the purchase of lead from overseas with a view to selling the lead to Canada Metal at the time of delivery. The gain which he realized from doing so was held to have arisen from an adventure in the nature of trade, and therefore was fully taxable. The transaction was highly speculative, "he dealt with the lead in exactly the same manner as any dealer in imported lead would have done", and the fact that the subject matter of the adventure was a commodity "excluded any possibility that it was of an investment nature involving the realization of a security or resulted in a fortuitous accretion of capital" (p. 1139).