Editor: Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M., Q.C. Pages 73-80 May 17, 2019 Vol. xli No. 10

Minister come to the Island during the election would be P.E.I. Election Produces Minority “counter-productive”. Government ThesurgeoftheGreenswasnosurpriseaspollsformonths had suggested that they were running ahead of the two For the first time since the 19th century, voters in Prince traditional parties and might actually form the govern- Edward Island have abandoned their traditional embrace ment. In the event, the Conservatives finished with 37 of the Island’s two-party system, electing a Tory minority percent of the popular vote, followed by the Greens at 31 government and handing the upstart Green Party official and the Liberals at 29. The NDP received just 3 percent. opposition status for the first time. Voter turnout was 77 percent, a five-point drop from the With all polls reporting the Tories had won 12 seats, the 2015 election. Greens held eight, and the incumbent Liberals, led by The election campaign was in stark contrast to that in Premier Wade MacLauchlan, had won six. But MacLau- . Civility was the rule of the day and even in the chlan lost his own seat. He subsequently announced his leaders’ debate, there was more consensus on issues than resignation as head of the party. real debate. The Liberals were seeking a fourth term in office, having Premier-designate Dennis King now faces a task that has repeatedly reminded Islanders that the province’s econ- never before been faced by a P.E.I. premier. He needs to omy remains the strongest in the country. A stellar figure out how to form a consensus in the Legislature economic record obviously wasn’t enough. When the without having a majority of his own party there. King Legislature was dissolved, the Liberals held 16 seats in the promised a more collaborative approach to government 27-seat Legislature, the Tories had eight and Greens had during the campaign, and he will now be forced to make two seats. There was one independent member. good on that promise. King said the results showed While hardly a major element in the Liberal losses, the Islanders are looking for a new kind of politics. word was out that the party felt that having the Prime

IN THIS ISSUE

P.E.I. Election Produces Minority Government...... 73 Briefly Noted ...... 78

Government Support of Journalism: ’s New Spiro Named Tax Court Judge ...... 80 Qualified Donee Meets a U.K. Review — Part II ..... 75 Gascon Retirement Gives Trudeau Another S.C.C. Newfoundland and Labrador Budget Heralds a Snap Appointment Before the Election ...... 80 Election Call ...... 76

Hello Premier Kenney...... 77

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The Tory victory on the Island represents the latest in a series of gains for right-leaning parties, including wins in Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick and within the last year. But the new P.E.I. government, however constituted, will have to rely on at least one of the other Editor: Arthur B. C. Drache, C.M., Q.C. partiesandwecanassumethatthisgovernmentwillnotbe Content Editor: Steve Hostetter ISSN 0225-0608 ideologically in bed with Premiers Kenney or Ford. There will be no abandonment of the federal carbon tax plans in Editorial Offices: P.E.I. 226 MacLaren St., Ottawa K2P 0L6 Phone: (613) 237-3300 x11 Among other things, King promised to expand beer and Fax: (613) 237-2786 Email: [email protected] wine sales to convenience stores. Access to family doctors Published Twice Monthly emerged as a key issue in the campaign. All four parties # 2019 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited talked about recruiting more physicians. According to NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved. No part of this Health P.E.I., there are 13,083 Islanders on the waiting list publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, for a family doctor. photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher (Thomson Reuters Canada, a division of On the Saturdaybefore the voteElections P.E.I. postponed Thomson Reuters Canada Limited). the vote in the district of Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park Thomson Reuters Canada and all persons involved in the preparation following the deaths of Green Party candidate Josh and sale of this publication disclaim any warranty as to accuracy or Underhay and his young son in a boating mishap on the currency of the publication. This publication is provided on the understanding and basis that none of Thomson Reuters Canada, the Hillsborough River. author/s or other persons involved in the creation of this publication shall be responsible for the accuracy or currency of the contents, or for A by-election will be held in the riding within the next the results of any action taken on the basis of the information three months. contained in this publication, or for any errors or omissions contained herein. Referendum results: As we have mentioned in these No one involved in this publication is attempting herein to render pages in past issues, there was a referendum at the same legal, accounting or other professional advice. If legal advice or other time as the election to give voters a chance to change the expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The analysis contained herein should in no way be first past the post system. Such votes in the past have construed as being either official or unofficial policy of any always failed to meet the threshold required for the governmental body. change. We acknowledge the financial support of the , through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our Thequestionwas,“ShouldPrinceEdwardIslandchangeits mailing costs. voting system to a mixed member proportional voting Address all subscription inquries to: system?”

One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road, Islanders were split on how they would like to vote in the Toronto, Ontario M1T 3V4 future. 1-416-609-3800 (Toronto & International) 1-800-387-5164 (Toll Free Canada & U.S.) More than 50 percent of Islanders voted “no.” “Yes” was Fax 1-416-298-5082 (Toronto) Fax 1-877-750-9041 (Toll Free Canada Only) the popular choice in 15 ridings, but only took around 49 Email [email protected] percent of the popular vote. That means the referendum store.thomsonreuters.ca was defeated on two fronts. P.E.I.’s Referendum Act required a “yes” vote to meet two thresholds to trigger a Though they fell short of an outright win, the Greens’ change: the support of a majority of Island voters in the strong showing on election night was a major break- referendum (50 percent, plus one vote), and majority through for a party that did not hold a seat in the support in at least 60 percent of the Island’s electoral Legislature until 2015. That’s when party leader Peter districts (17 of 27 districts). Bevan-Baker won a seat in a general election after nine unsuccessful runs for office on the Island and in Ontario. All four party leaders said during the election campaign they would honour the results of the vote. During the leaders’ debate the Green, Progressive Conservative and

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NDP leaders said all supported a move to MMP, while 2. The proposed Institute would receive “innovation Liberal Leader Wade MacLauchlan declined to state a funding” from government, another of the Recom- preference, saying he would let Islanders decide. mendations contained in the Review. It would also potentially receive funding for local public interest news and possibly take over, or co-manage, the existing BBC initiative known as the Local Democ- Government Support of Journalism: racy Reporting Service. Canada’s New Qualified Donee Meets a 3. The recommendation of most interest to the non- U.K. Review — Part II profit and philanthropy sector is that new forms of tax relief should be launched to encourage the Daniel Frajman and Alana Petraske provision of local and investigative journalism, as Editor’Editor’ss NoteNote:: This is the second of a two-part series. well as to encourage payments for online news content. In contrast to the more concrete proposals in Canada, the United Kingdom has recently seen the publication of a new Tax reliefs: the U.K. status quo: In common with independentreviewonthe sustainablefutureofjournalism Canada, the United States, and many other countries in the U.K. worldwide, the U.K. grants certain tax reliefs as a matter of public policy to organizations that are charitable, and in Against a backdrop of “fake news” and the impact of the respect of donations to them. A charity for U.K. tax Internet on print journalism, the U.K. government tasked purposes must, among other things, be formed for Dame Frances Cairncross in 2018 with conducting the purposes that are “exclusively charitable” for the public Review, which was published in February 2019.1 The basic benefit, currently codified in 12 specific “heads” of charity, conclusion of the Review is that high quality, independent aswellasanything,undera13thhead,thatisrecognizedas journalism matters in a democratic society, and that being sufficiently analogous. government intervention to ensure a sustainable future may therefore be warranted. If this intervention includes However, public interest journalism is not one of the the introduction of new charitable tax reliefs, the Review recognized heads and attempts to register charitable will not only be a significant advance for U.K. journalism, organizations with this purpose have failed. There are but also for the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. certainly organizations undertaking or funding journalistic activities, but these may only be a means of achieving The recommendations of the U.K. Review: The Review another recognized purpose, such as the advancement of considers the state of journalism in the U.K., in particular education or the promotion of human rights. In other the challenges posed by online distribution and social words, public interest journalism, no matter how laudable, media. It culminates with nine recommendations which is not charitable per se. Without charitable status: are intended to improve the market for journalism, encourage innovation, and incentivize the production (a) donations from private individuals or businesses (and consumption) of high-quality news. While several of wishing to support investigative journalism fail to these are focused on the market for commercial news, attract charity tax reliefs; social media and the imbalance between publishers and (b) an existing charity (including a philanthropic foun- online platforms, there are three recommendations of dation) may not make unrestricted grants to particular interest to the nonprofit sector: support investigative journalism; and 1. The creation of a new Institute for Public Interest (c) an organization that carries out or commissions News. This would act as a centre for excellence, investigative journalism will only enjoy charity tax commission research and collaborate widely on reliefs(includingrelieffrom tax on itsprofits oftrade initiatives designed to encourage the supply of and ancillary reliefs such as on local property tax) if public interest news. This body is conceived of as a its activities are a satisfactory means of carrying out potential equivalent to the U.K. Arts Council. another charitable purpose. It is important to note that journalism charities would be subject to all the existing regulation applicable to other 1 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/ uploads/attachment_data/file/779882/021919_DCMS_Cairncross_Re- charities, including the limitation in the U.K. on certain view_.pdf.

75 THE CANADIAN TAXPAYER May 17, 2019 - Vol. xli No. 10 types of campaigning and political activity, and the landscape. In any event, the U.K. Review serves to limitations on private benefit. underline the same concerns with the current journalistic landscape that caused Canada to take concrete steps in More narrowly, in relation to U.K. Value Added Tax (VAT), the 2019 Canadian federal budget to provide for new forms digital newspapers and magazines are currently not zero- of tax relief to support quality journalism. This highlights rated, which discourages mechanisms for online payment that Canada has taken a lead on addressing this issue, but of journalistic content. the Canadian proposals will be illusory if undue time is Changing the landscape: Recognition of public interest taken to establish the independent panel and the journalism as “charitable” could be achieved in a number administrative body called for by the proposals. of ways, including a reference to the Charity Tribunal. Daniel Frajman is a partner with Spiegel Sohmer Attorneys However, coming out of the Review, the most likely route of Montreal. He may be reached at dfrajman@spiegelsoh- seems now to be changes to the primary legislation to mer.com. Alana Petraske is an English solicitor and partner extend the list of recognized charitable purposes. at Withers Worldwide in New York. She can be reached at Amendment of the Charities Act of 2011, and if thought [email protected]. locally appropriate, the corresponding legislation in Scot- land and Northern Ireland would allow access to the generous charitable tax reliefs without the introduction of Newfoundland and Labrador Budget a bespoke incentive. Heralds a Snap Election Call Following publication of the Review, there has been some support for the recommendation within government. Though the fixed date for the next provincial election is Jeremy Wright MP, of the Department for Digital, Culture, many months away, all the signs point to a snap call after Media and Sport (which covers civil society matters), has the budget of April 16 was revealed. And it didn’t take more since announced to Parliament that he has “written to the than 24 hours to decide that the residents would go to the Charity Commission and look[s] forward to hearing how polls on May 16. they can help move this forward”. On the day before the budget, Dwight Ball and the Liberals Alternative options suggested in the Review include a held three different news conferences, one on power rate scheme analogous to the reliefs introduced to develop the mitigation post-Muskrat Falls, a second on auto insurance, British film and video game industries. and a third on an economic diversification report by McKinsey & Company. Forecasting the future: charitable journalism in the U.K.: While the Review represents an exciting step Those releases came on the heels of a weeklong flurry of forwards in U.K. public interest journalism, it has no effect government newsers that saw the Liberals make pre- on the existing state of the law. It is also not the first time election announcements totalling $339 million in spend- charitable status in this area has been the subject of ing. And there was also the April 1 Atlantic Accord deal, public attention. Back in 2012, the House of Lords Select which outlined $2.5 billion to come to Newfoundland and Committee on Communications’ Inquiry into the future of Labrador from the federal government through to 2030. investigative journalism nearly coincided with the high With both the Conservative and NDP parties in dire straits profile second rejection of the Bureau of Investigative intermsoffinancingandpersonnel,the time seemsrightto Journalism’s application for charitable status. The HL call the election though Ball is hardly charismatic and his Committee suggested that charitable status for certain polling numbers are unimpressive. types of journalism could unlock philanthropic invest- TheSpeech hearkenedback to the savage (there is no other ment and enable responsible investigative journalism to 1 flourish.Itsprincipalmessagehasnodoubtinformedthe appropriate descriptor) 2016 Budget. According to a CBC present Review: that high quality public interest journal- report: ism matters for the “wellbeing of democracy”. “In 2016, our government had no choice but to make difficult Whether the U.K. Parliament will pursue the legislative decisions,” Finance Minister Tom Osborne said at the House changes proposed by the U.K. Review is not clear, particularly with Brexit dominating the legislative reform 1 See The Canadian Taxpayer, Vol. xxxviii at page 69.

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of Assembly on Tuesday afternoon. “None of us wanted to do less detail than might otherwise be the case. With an this but it was necessary to address the financial crisis that election on tap, a new budget will be coming (no matter Newfoundland and Labrador was facing.” which party forms the next government) and we will be Just months after taking office, the Ball government faced prepared to write about an updated version in the future. down a multibillion-dollar deficit by bringing in an array of The standings at the dissolution of the Legislature were 27 tax increases — including income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes Liberals, eight Tories, two NDP and three independent — and added fees on everything from hatching to matching members. to dispatching. Two provinces, Alberta and Prince Edward Island, have not Osborne said “our province was on the brink” at the time. yet brought down 2019 budgets because of pending “Today, our financial outlook is significantly improved.” elections.

That means no tax increases this year.

The budget confirms that the tax on automobile insurance is Hello Premier Kenney gone — a $60-million decision this year. It follows through with a pledge for affordable electricity into the future, after To the surprise of nobody who was following the bruising Muskrat Falls comes on stream. And the deficit reduction levy electoral campaign in Alberta, Jason Kenney’s UCP had a is still on schedule to end at the end of 2019. clear majorityof the popular vote, with 55 percent support, and the party’s candidates were elected in 63 ridings. The Perhaps most surprisingly, after years of red ink, the province New Democrats, who won the 2015 election with 40.6 is projecting a $1.9-billion surplus this year. But to come up percent of the popular vote, were reduced to about 32 with that number, the government is booking revenue it won’t percent support and were on track to win 24 seats. receive for years or even decades under the recently announced Atlantic Accord deal with Ottawa. The net benefit Rachel Notley, the NDP Premier, won her seat personally from that arrangement, which runs until 2056, is $2.5 billion. and has said she will stay on as leader of the party and become leader of the official opposition. The NDP is the Only $134 million of that cash will actually flow this year. But first Alberta government not to win re-election. because annual payments are guaranteed at set amounts going forward, government officials say their handling of the Given the predictability of the result, attention turns to Accord is in line with public sector accounting standards. whether Kenney’s perfervid rhetoric during the campaign will result in action. He threatened for example to cut off Without that Accord boost, Newfoundland and Labrador would again have run a significant deficit this year, of around gas transmissions to British Columbia. $575 million. Spending is budgeted to continue to rise, to just At a campaign rally in Edmonton on the last Friday before over $8.4 billion. the province’s election, Kenney renewed his promise to The province insists it is still on track to balance the budget by “turn off the taps” of gasoline “within an hour” of being 2022. Before that happens, the deficit is forecast to balloon sworn in as Alberta Premier in response to previous back up to nearly $800 million in 2020. To balance the promises made by Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart to books, the province says it will spend $600 million less in achieve a carbon-free Vancouver by 2040. We’ll see if he 2022 than this year. returns to economic sanity. Newfoundland and Labrador remain dependent to some Indeed, it would seem that on various issues such as the extent on the price of oil. While the average price of oil in equalization formula and the west to east pipeline project, 2018-19 moved above 2017-18 numbers, oil prices showed he may be at loggerheads with Quebec (which has a continued volatility. Recognizing this, forecasts are based conservative government), and this suggests some inter- on the forecasting models of 11 industry analysts. In provincial fireworks in the months and years to come. Budget2019, they are forecastingoil at US$65per barrel But of course Kenney ran his campaign as much against for 2019-20, and the Canada to U.S. exchange rate to be Prime Minister Trudeau as against Notley and it is almost 76.5 cents. certain he will join with the more conservative Western Given the almost certain fact that this specific document Premiersin fightingmanyofTrudeau’sinitiativesas wellas will not be implemented, we are reporting in somewhat

77 THE CANADIAN TAXPAYER May 17, 2019 - Vol. xli No. 10 being active in support of the federal Conservatives in the Kenney in Alberta and Ford in Ontario have set themselves next federal election. up as electoral foils when the Liberals campaign for “progressive” votes. Kenney actually did have a range of specific campaign promises which will have both provincial and federal But we have to hand it to Kenney. He gave up his federal implications. seat with two goals in mind. The first was to “unite the right”, a merger of two antithetical parties which split the These include: vote allowing Notley and the NDP to win the last election. . Repealing Alberta’s carbon tax as the new govern- Andthen, having managedthe merger,to win the election. ment’s first act He has achieved both those goals, and whether one likes . Filing a legal challenge against the federal climate him or not,1 he has to be congratulated on implementing framework, which taxes provinces without their own his long-term plan. carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems Kenney was sworn in as Premier on April 30. . Imposing a new tax on large industrial emitters Now the political fun on a national level begins. . Cancelling Ms. Notley’s $3.7-billion oil-by-rail leas- ing program 1 We always hated his policies but as an individual, found him a warm personality who was always exceedingly kind to us even when he knew . Cutting corporate tax rates from 12 percent to 8 we did not support him. percent . Cutting the minimum wage for workers age 17 and under from $15 to $13 an hour Briefly Noted . Freezing government spending for four years Vickers to lead New Brunswick Liberals: Former House . Balancing the budget by 2022 of Commons sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers has been On a purely provincial level, his proposals include: acclaimed as New Brunswick’s Liberal leader. The party . Maintaining health spending at current levels, but announced the political rookie’s ascension after a Board cutting administrative costs meeting in mid-April. . Reducing surgical wait times to no more than 16 Vickers was the only candidate left in the race after his lone weeks, down from the current 37 for hip replace- rival, Rene´ Ephestion, withdrew earlier this month. ments and 41 for knee replacements The party has decided to forgo a leadership convention . Suspending the creation of new supervised drug- planned for June. He will take over from interim leader use sites and reviewing whether existing sites . should continue to operate Vickers was hailed as a hero for helping to end the 2014 . Allowing teachers to tell parents whether children attack on , and has also served as Canada’s join gay-straight alliances in schools ambassador to Ireland. . Reviving standardized testsfor students in Grades The provincial Liberals under then-Premier 1-3 wonjust21seatsinanelectionlastfall—onefewerthanthe . Cancelling “discovery learning” methods for sub- Tories — and they relinquished their hold on power in jects like math NovemberafterlosingaconfidencevoteintheLegislature. . Requiring universities to establish “free speech” Premier ’s minority government is relying on policies like the ones instituted in Ontario support from a third party — the right-leaning People’s Clearly Kenney’s program would move Alberta socially to Alliance, led by Kris Austin. That arrangement is set to the right which is consistent with his philosophy. Whether expire next year. Albertans remain supportive will take at least four years to Nova Scotia Chief Justice: The Prime Minister has determine. His plans sound negative for those who worry announced the appointment of the Honourable Michael about such things as the environment. And the news J. Wood, a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, to seems to be negative for the federal Liberals, though

78 # 2019 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 | store.thomsonreuters.ca | thomsonreuters.com THE CANADIAN TAXPAYER May 17, 2019 - Vol. xli No. 10 the position of Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. He replaces the the average cost will be $260 and the average rebate Honourable J. Michael MacDonald, who retired effective $336, and in New Brunswick the average cost will be $193 February 1, 2019, after more than 24 years of service as a and the average rebate $248. judge. The wealthiest families in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Wood was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia New Brunswick will pay between $13 and $50 more in in 2011, after almost 30 years of practising law in Halifax. carbon tax than they receive from the rebate. In Since that time, he has been active in the administration of Manitoba, the wealthiest families will still be better off the court through involvement in many committees, by $37, the PBO says. including those related to civil procedure rules, court Tax expenditure report: In mid-April the Department of clerkship, and insolvency. Finance Canada released the 2019 Report on Federal Tax Prior to his appointment, Chief Justice Wood practised law Expenditures—Concepts, Estimates and Evaluations. with Burchells LLP in the areas of civil litigation and This year’s report also includes two analytical papers. The administrative law. He was an active member in the Nova first paper is an evaluation of the moving expense Scotia Barristers Society, particularly in relation to deduction, which recognizes the expenses involved in professional responsibility and competency. moving to a new job. The second paper responds to the New Deputy Minister: The Prime Minister announced requirements of the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act of that Marta Morgan, currently Deputy Minister of Immigra- 2018 by presenting a Gender-based Analysis Plus of the tion, Refugees and Citizenship, will become Deputy federal personal income tax system, focusing on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, effective May 6, 2019. Her impacts of tax expenditures among various groups of men name may be familiar to some readers as from 2014 to and women. 2016 she was Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. This latter will be of considerable interest to those who are PBO opines on carbon tax figures: The Parliamentary doing research on the tax system generally and the issue Budget Office says revenues from the federal carbon of women’s equality. price will be more than $2.6 billion this year and exceed The new data also highlights the distribution of wealth in $6 billion a year within five years. The new analysis by the Canada that currently favours males. Women represented PBO, which includes both the high-profile fuel tax slightly more than half of all Canadian tax filers but applied in four provinces and a separate pricing system reported 41.6 percent of total pre-tax income. Men held for big industrial emitters, also says that revenues will the other 58.4 percent. More than 32 percent of men start to fall after five years because Canadians will burn reported pre-tax incomes in the top quartile compared to less fossil fuel. only about 18 percent of women. Almost 30 percent of The PBO report says the average cost to families from the women reported income in the bottom quartile com- carbon price this year will be $193 in New Brunswick, $256 pared to about 20 percent of men. in Ontario, $260 in Manitoba and $425 in Saskatchewan. Flood relief: The CRA understands that natural To offset the cost of the tax Ottawa introduced an income- disasters may cause hardship for taxpayers whose tax rebate that will average more than the expected costs primary concerns during this time are their families, in all four of those provinces. homes, and communities. These individuals, businesses, The PBO report says over the next five years all but the and first responders may find themselves unable to file wealthiest 20 percent of Canadian households will get tax returns or pay taxes due on time. If so, the CRA more back from the rebate than they will pay in carbon tax.1 encourages them to make a request for taxpayer relief. In Saskatchewan for instance, the average household is Taxpayers can make a request for taxpayer relief online, expected to pay $425 in carbon tax this year, and will get by using Form RC4288, Request for Taxpayer Relief, or $598 back from the rebate. In Ontario, the average cost by calling the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 for individual will be $256, and the average rebate $300. In Manitoba, inquiries, and at 1-800-959-5525 for business inquiries. The CRA will consider these requests on a case-by-case 1 While the payments are not related to income, the assumption is that basis. wealthier families are bigger users of carbon because they have larger homes and automobiles.

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to name another Supreme Court Justice before the federal Spiro Named Tax Court Judge election. Gascon, 58, is stepping down for personal and family David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of reasons, the court announced. His September 15th depar- Canada, has announced that David E. Spiro, a sole ture will create an opening for a judge from Quebec on practitioner, is appointed a Judge of the Tax Court of the nine-member court. He could have stayed on for Canada. Mr. Justice Spiro would replace Mr. Justice B. another 17 years. Paris, who elected to resign effective April 3, 2019. ChiefJusticeRichardWagnerpraisedGascon’sthoughtful, This is an appointment which we can applaud unreserv- rigorous and collegial approach, saying it helped the court edly. We have followed Spiro’s career since the earliest get to the heart of complex issues. days (and did so with his father) and can attest to the fact that he is superbly qualified. “He has served Canadians with integrity and wisdom,” Wagner said in a news release. “All of his colleagues will He was born and raised in Toronto. He received a B.A. (with miss his commitment and friendship.” distinction) from York University in 1984 and an LL.B. from theUniversityofTorontoin1987wherehewasawardedthe Gascon was appointed to the in CCH Canada Ltd. Prize in Tax Policy. 2002, specializing in commercial law matters such as restructurings and bankruptcies. He joined the Quebec Spiro was called to the Ontario Bar in 1989 and practised Court of Appeal 10 years later and was named to the with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (1989-1991) before Supreme Court by Stephen Harper in June 2014. joining the tax litigation section of the Department of Justice (1991-2004). He continued his tax litigation Gascon’s appointment brought to an end one of the more practice at Blakes (2004-2009) and Dentons LLP controversial forays into judicial appointments to the top (2009-2014) before becoming a sole practitioner. court by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In 2013 Harper appointed to the Supreme Court. A He has appeared before the Tax Court of Canada, Federal controversy ensued over the fact that Nadon was semi- Court, of Appeal, and Supreme Court of retired, specialized in maritime law and had lived outside Canada and has served as a member of the Tax for almost two decades. While the controversy Canada Bench and Bar Committee and the Judicial unfolded, Nadon did not hear cases. By the spring of 2014 Advisory Committee for the Tax Court of Canada. theremainingsevenjusticesontheSupremeCourtvoted6 Spiro has spoken and written for the Canadian Tax to 1 that Nadon did not qualify for the position, despite Foundation, the Canadian Bar Association, and The being a Justice with a solid and recognized legal Advocates’ Society where he established the Tax Litigation reputation. Skills Certificate Program to provide hands-on skills Trudeau said in a tweet that former Prime Minister Kim training to young advocates. Campbell will again lead the advisory board to examine Spirohasheldanumberofsignificantvolunteerleadership prospective nominees. However, the Conservatives are responsibilities within the Jewish community. He has also asking the government to pause the appointment process been active in the arts community where he served on the until the Liberals allow an investigation into leaks of boards of the Canadian Opera Foundation and the information about a dispute between Trudeau and former Canadian Opera Company. Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould over who should be Chief Justice of Canada’s top court. Conservative Deputy Leader Lisa Raitt said Monday that Gascon Retirement Gives Trudeau highly qualified individuals may avoid applying until they Another S.C.C. Appointment Before the can be assured of confidentiality in the selection process. Election An investigation into the “leak” and a delay in the appointment seems to us to be highly unlikely. The announcement that Supreme Court Justice Cle´ment Gascon is retiring in September after five years on the high court gives the Prime Minister an unexpected opportunity

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