The standard of review to be applied by an appellate court on questions of pure fact is that of palpable or overriding error, while the standard to be applied to questions of law is that of correctness. When it comes to review of questions of mixed fact and law, the standard to be applied can be either palpable and overriding error or correctness. If the court below was required to make inferences of fact which are intertwined with, and related to, the legal standard to be applied, as in a finding of negligence, the standard of palpable or overriding error should be applied. Where, however, the error can be traced to an extricable error of law or the application of the wrong legal test, then less deference is required and the correctness standard applies. Housen v. Nikolaisen, [2002] 2 S.C.R. 235, 2002 SCC 33.
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