Ernest Lapointe (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada)
Liberal
Mr. LAPOINTE:
By this bill the spring
sittings of the court, which, as the law stands at the present time, are fixed for the first Tuesday in May, will be advanced to the
Dominion Elections Act
fourth Tuesday in April. This is done because it will be more convenient for the judges and, I believe, also for the lawyers.
There is another somewhat important amendment by which it is intended to confer upon the court discretionary power in special cases to receive evidence in addition to that which is embodied in the stated case. The Privy Council in England and the High Court of Appeal in England have such powers and it has happened in a Canadian case that the supreme court here had no authority or discretion to allow the filing of a plan while, When the case was before the Privy Council, the Privy Council allowed the filing of that plan. This is for the purpose of giving the supreme court the same discretionary power as the Privy Council has in that matter.
Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.