Bonds of two Canadian railway companies that were guaranteed by the government of Canada were specialties. Furthermore, the situs of intangible property, for purposes of the constitutional requirement that the province of Quebec could only impose a tax upon property transmitted owing to death in respect of subjects having a situs within the province, was to be determined on common law principles. Accordingly, a provision of the Quebec Succession Duties Act that purported to impose succession duties in respect of the bonds on the basis that the debtors were domiciled within Quebec were, to that extent, ultra vires the Province given that the instruments constituting those specialities were, at the time of the testator's death in New York City, physically situate in Toronto. Duff C.J. noted (at p. 673) that:
"A provincial legislator is not competent to prescribe the conditions fixing the situs of intangible property for the purpose of defining the subjects [of taxation] in respect of which its powers of taxation under s. 92(2) may be put into effect."