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Date: 20041108

Docket: A-457-03

Citation: 2004 FCA 381

CORAM:         DESJARDINS J.A.

            EVANS J.A.              

            PELLETIER J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                             LARRY MACHULA

                                                                                                                                          Appellant

                                                                           and

                                                    HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

                                                                                                                                     Respondent

                             Heard at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on November 8, 2004.

     Judgment delivered from the Bench at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on November 8, 2004.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY:                                               EVANS J.A.


                                                                                                                                  Date: 20041108

                                                                                                                              Docket: A-457-03

                                                                                                                     Citation: 2004 FCA 381

CORAM:         DESJARDINS J.A.

EVANS J.A.              

PELLETIER J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                             LARRY MACHULA

                                                                                                                                          Appellant

                                                                           and

                                                    HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

                                                                                                                                     Respondent

                                     REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

            (Delivered from the Bench at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on November 8, 2004)

EVANS J.A.

[1]                This is an appeal from a decision of Beaubier T.C.C.J. dismissing an appeal by Larry Machula from an assessment where he was found personally liable under section 227.1 of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985 (5th Supp.), c. 1, for the non-remittance of payroll deductions in the year 1996 by 601161 Saskatchewan Ltd., a company of which Mr. Machula was one of two directors.


[2]                We are all of the view that the appeal should be dismissed. Counsel for Mr. Machula did not allege that the Judge had committed an error of law in his formulation of the relevant legal tests to be applied, and we are not persuaded that, in his application of the law to the facts, or in his appreciation of the evidence, the Judge made any palpable or overriding error.

[3]                Counsel's principal point was that the Judge misstated in his reasons the date of a report to Mr. Machula by the manager of the business (Exhibit R-2) and the date of one of the events that it described. He thus misapprehended an important item of evidence. We do not agree.

[4]                We have carefully reviewed the record, and read the Judge's reasons for judgment as a whole, noting especially that he stated the dates correctly more than once in paragraphs adjacent to those containing the error. On the basis of this, we are satisfied that the Judge's mistakes were mere slips or typographical errors and did not influence him in the conclusion that he reached. In our view, these misstatements do not constitute material errors warranting the intervention of the Court.

[5]                For these reasons, the appeal will be dismissed with costs.

                                                                                                                                   "John M. Evans"              

                                                                                                                                                      J.A.                     


                                                  FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

                            NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD

DOCKET:                                                                   A-457-03

STYLE OF CAUSE:                                       LARRY MACHULA v. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

                                                                             

PLACE OF HEARING:                                             SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN

DATE OF HEARING:                                               NOVEMBER 8, 2004

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT:

(DESJARDINS, EVANS AND PELLETIER JJ.A.)

RENDERED FROM THE BENCH BY:                  EVANS J.A.

APPEARANCES:

Mr. Michel Bourque                                                      FOR THE APPELLANT

Mr. Gérald Chartier                                                       FOR THE RESPONDENT

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:

Bennet Jones LLP

Calgary, Alberta                                                            FOR THE APPELLANT

Morris Rosenberg

Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Winnipeg Regional Office                                               FOR THE RESPONDENT


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