The Federal Court of Appeal judge, Mr. Justice Décary, wrote that:
When the Minister decided to pay a contracting party with the proceeds of sale of the snow crab, he was paying with assets that did not belong to him. Paying with the assets of a third party is, to say the very least, an extraordinary act that the Administration could not perform unless so authorized by an act or by duly enacted regulations.
Could Bill C-45, which the minister is preparing to have passed, make a practice legal that is not exactly legal at the moment? Paying with the assets of a third party, unless authorized to do so by law or regulation, means, under Bill C-45 that what I consider a hidden, excessive tax would be imposed to increase funding for scientific research. Bill C-45, would allow the minister to do directly what is being done indirectly at the moment.