Gadbois v. Transport H. Cordeau Inc.
ITA-1384-97
Noël J.
26/2/98
9 pp.
Appeal by Her Majesty from decision of Prothonotary holding she cannot be considered third person in good faith within meaning of Civil Code of Québec, art. 1452-Prothonotary erred as to appropriate burden of proof herein-For art. 1452 to apply, Crown had to prove apparent action it took as result of that act-It did not have to prove its good faith with respect to apparent act-Effect of modifier "in good faith" found in art. 1452 means that only third persons with this characteristic can avail themselves thereof, but this article in no way presumes person raising it acting in bad faith-At first glance, Crown, like all affected third persons, entitled to rely on apparent act employed by parties to deceive and conceal truth-By presuming Crown knew about counter letter, Prothonotary found it had acted in bad faith-In so doing, he imposed on Crown burden not required to discharge-Appeal allowed-Civil Code of Québec, S.Q. 1991, c. 64, art. 1452.