PRINCE GEORGE, B.C.: Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has served court documents on the lawyers for taxpayer Irvin Leroux stating that it will make yet another attempt to defeat his claim without going to trial.
During a 1996 audit, the CRA had removed papers from Leroux’s office without his consent, then lost or shredded them. It assessed him for almost $1 million in taxes, penalties and interest. The tax prosecution resolved after several years with the CRA owing Leroux a refund. However, as a result of the CRA’s actions, Leroux lost his home, his business and his life savings.
Leroux launched a lawsuit for misfeasance against the CRA in 2006. The CRA tried to have the case thrown out of court for various reasons in 2007, 2009 and 2010, but the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that Leroux could proceed with his case.
The CRA next tried to have the case stopped by the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2011. The appeal court likewise gave Leroux permission to proceed with an amended claim.
Now, the CRA is again alleging that Leroux’s amended claim is “frivolous and vexatious”. The application is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court of B.C. at Prince George on August 27, 2012. Leroux’s lawyer Laurence Armstrong has described the CRA’s application as “part of a continuing effort to avoid the Plaintiff’s efforts to have his case heard on the merits.”
Irvin Leroux said, “They are trying to win this by attrition, but I’m not planning to give up. I’m entitled to my day in court to expose their wrongdoings. I’ve also heard from many other taxpayers who are angry over the money the CRA is wasting just to keep delaying me.”
Mr. Leroux has been assisted in the litigation by the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), “Freedom’s Defence Team”, a registered charity, independent and non-partisan, whose mission is to defend the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through education, communication and litigation.
