The taxpayers neglected to have shares that purportedly were issued to them in 1985 added to the authorized capital of the issuing corporation. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia provided a rectification basis in 1992 which validated the share issue in 1985 on a nunc pro tunc basis. The Minister maintained that a rectification order, applied for in 1988, could not change the taxpayer's status from 1985-87 for the purposes of the Income Tax Act.
In finding that the retroactive character of the rectification order should be respected for tax purposes, Décary and Robertson, JJ.A. found that a rectification order (within the jurisdiction of the court) does bind the Minister in respect of tax assessment. Such an order cannot be the target of "collateral attacks" that would undermine its effect. However, the justices also acknowledged (at p. 5257) that the law might recognize an exception to the rule against collateral attacks if a jurisdictional error complained of is "at the very least, self-evident and not a matter of further debate."