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The Supreme Court Of Canada's Tax Jurisprudence: What's Wrong With The Rule Of Law, Lisa Philipps

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This paper reviews the history of the Supreme Court's tax jurisprudence focussing on the Court's ongoing struggle to define its proper institutional role in the creation and interpretation of the tax laws. An emprical overview is first presented to document the changing nature and volume of the Court's taxation caseload through history, and this is related to the evolution of Canada's fiscal system. Selected judgments from differing periods are then examined to illuminate how the Court has conceived its role in the adjudication of tax issues. The author suggests that tax decisions have been strongly informed by a classical liberal …