What is the test for determining the meaning of a penal statute when there is a reasonable ambiguity?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from Anderson v. Co-operators Group Limited, 1984 CanLII 1156 (AB QB):
Lamer J. in Paul v. R., 1982 CanLII 179 (SCC), [1982] 1 S.C.R. 621, 27 C.R. (3d) 193, 67 C.C.C. (2d) 97, 138 D.L.R. (3d) 455, 42 N.R. 1, stated at p. 13: But when dealing with a penal statute the rule is that, if in construing a statute there appears any reasonable ambiguity, it be resolved by giving the statute the meaning most favorable to the persons liable to penalty.
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