The $2 million comma

Canadian dollars, but still.

The validity of the contract and the millions of dollars at stake all came down to one point — the second comma in the sentence.

Had it not been there, the right to cancel wouldn’t have applied to the first five years of the contract and Rogers would be protected from the higher rates it now faces.

“Based on the rules of punctuation,” the comma in question “allows for the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year’s written notice,” the regulator said.

Via OGIC.

Cross-posted at Tinkerty Tonk.

Comments

  1. Pixy Misa wrote:

    Contracts should be written in Basic, not in English.

    That way you could run test cases in a couple of milliseconds rather than six months.

    Posted 08 Aug 2006 at 9:56 pm

  2. rachel wrote:

    But how would lawyers earn their keep?

    Posted 08 Aug 2006 at 11:04 pm

  3. Alon Levy wrote:

    Hey, in the US entire Constitutional arguments are based on whether there’s a comma after “well-regulated militia” in the 2nd Amendment. It’s good that in Canada it’s just $2 million rather than entire policies potentially causing thousands of homicides every year.

    Posted 09 Aug 2006 at 1:47 am

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