310 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 2 MARCH 2021
sand”. For those not entirely unconvinced of her verbal dexterity, in 2021
she delivered this gem: “Exercise is important. It’s important for people’s
health and well-being. And that equally applies to exercise.”
In Merlin’s Cabaret Ltd. v. British Columbia, 1995 CanLII 2573, the B.C.
Supreme Court described the actions of the petitioner, who was appealing
an assessment under the Social Services Tax Act, as “a clear and rather
enchanting example of a taxpayer’s sophistication in manipulating a
sequence of events to attempt to create the prerequisites for a tax exemption”.
As the judge noted, the petitioner operated a cabaret “where a variety
of beverages are served including juices, soft drinks, wine, beer, liquor shots
and cocktails, and as well, what the petitioner terms ‘component drinks’
which are servings of liquor accompanied by a soft drink, juice or water
served in a separate container and billed separately. There is no dispute
that if the component drink were in fact mixed together by the bartender
and served and billed as one, then there would be tax payable.” The Social
Services Tax Act specifically exempted certain non-alcoholic beverages from
the tax, and the petitioner argued that “by selling and serving the tax
exempt beverage in a separate container from the alcoholic taxable portion,
no tax ought to be charged or collected”. The respondent argued that “the
serving of a drink in two separate containers does not change the nature of
the sale. It remains in substance, the sale of a single commodity: a mixed
drink upon which the tax is applicable to the whole.” The court dismissed
the appeal.
The CBABC recently announced the 2021 recipient of the Georges A. Goyer
QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service as Vancouver lawyer
barbara findlay, Q.C.
Julie E. Akeroyd was reappointed as a public member of the board of the
College of Dental Hygienists of British Columbia for a term ending February
28, 2022.
Jonathan Mark Chapnick and Sandra M. Staats were appointed as members
of the Fraser, Interior, Northern, Provincial Health Services, Vancouver
Coastal and Vancouver Island Patient Care Quality Review Boards for a term
ending June 1, 2022.
Enchanted is a 2007 Disney movie with Patrick Dempsey playing Robert
Philip, a New York City divorce lawyer, whose kiss awakens a princess
played by Amy Adams. In late December 2020, Disney announced a pend-