The presence or absence of any evidence upon which a decision may be supported is a question of law. The sufficiency of the evidence upon which it is sought to support a decision is one of fact or at best a question of mixed law and fact: The Queen v. Warner, 1960 CanLII 85 (SCC), [1961] S.C.R. 144, 128 C.C.C. 366. If the Member erroneously concluded that there was no evidence of an error for the 2003 through 2012 taxation years, then he committed an error of law that of necessity deprived him of the opportunity to consider the sufficiency of the evidence. As a result, there is reason to doubt the legal correctness of the decision of the Member. While the granting of an extension of time is discretionary and ordinarily attracts deference, an underlying error of law that deprives the Member of the opportunity to examine the sufficiency of the evidence that should have informed his exercise of discretion disentitles his decision to deference.
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