Legal Wit — Making a Silk Purse out of a Dog's Ear

Legal Wit — Making a Silk Purse out of a Dog's Ear

But as I earlier intimated, such a finding does not intimidate counsel for the defendant as he says that as council has declared that these matters amount to an "emergency" such cannot be questioned. Evidently council can make a silk purse out of a dog's ear if they wish (if I may twist a phrase), and the court cannot interfere with their determination of what is or is not an "emergency." This contention seems to me to be based on the somewhat "Alice in Wonderland" view that if the council ex cathedra says so, it is so, whether it is, was, or not, or ever will be. But counsel has suggested that two earlier cases support this contention and thus the matter requires further examination.


Kuypers v. Langley (Township) |  (westlaw Canada)
1992 CarswellBC 9 |  (Westlaw Canada)
British Columbia Supreme Court
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