Section 6 of the Farm Security Act 1944 (Saskatchewan) provided that in the event of a crop failure, the principal of a mortgage on a farm would be automaticallyl reduced by 4%, but that notwithstanding such reduction, interest would continue to be payable as if the principal had not been reduced. In finding that section 6 was ultra vires as being provincial legislation in relation to interest, Rand J stated (at p. 412) that "the statute works a change of rate as the principal is diminished which...is legislation in relation to interest...." Earlier in his reasons he stated (at pp. 411-412):
Interest is, in general terms, the return or consideration or compensation for the use or retention by one person of a sum of money, belonging to in a colloquial sense, or owed to, another....
[I]nterest is referrable to a principal in money or an obligation to pay money. Without that relational structure in fact and whatever the basis of calculating or determining the amount, no obligation to pay money or property can be deemed an obligation to pay interest.