Is a contract void ab initio when the contract was performed in an illegal manner?
Saskatchewan, Canada
The following excerpt is from Pelletier v. Imperial Oil Limited, 1941 CanLII 145 (SK CA):
The appellant contends that the proposed new evidence would bring his action within the principle of Waugh v. Morris (1872) L.R. 8 Q.B. 202, 42 L.J.Q.B. 57. In that case it was held that a contract is not void ab initio when it may be performed in either a legal or an illegal manner, and it is not shown that the parties intended it to be performed illegally. As a matter of fact the contract was legally performed.
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