PRINCE GEORGE, BC: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) presented Prince George resident Irvin Leroux with its highest honour, the prestigious TaxFighter Award, today. Leroux’s two-decade legal battle with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) secured a landmark ruling that said CRA owes all taxpayers a “duty of care,” meaning if CRA abuses taxpayers, it can be held liable for damages. (Photo: CTF's VP, Communications Scott Hennig (left) presenting TaxFighter Award to Irvin Leroux (right)
The TaxFighter Award is given out to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to the cause of taxpayer emancipation.
“Irvin Leroux is a hero. Many Canadians would have given up, but Irv kept fighting and ended up winning a victory for all taxpayers,” said Scott Hennig, the CTF’s VP-Communications. “There is no more worthy recipient of our TaxFighter Award than Irvin Leroux.”
“I am humbled to be in the company of other individuals who have received the TaxFighter Award and whose sacrifices have also resulted in obtaining changes and tax freedoms for all Canadians,” said Leroux. “This award proves a single individual can truly make a difference by standing up to the system and never giving up.”
In 1996, the CRA audited Leroux’s RV park near Valemount, BC, and determined he owed $800,000 in taxes and penalties. He appealed, but the CRA seized and sold his business.
Eventually the CRA admitted Irv didn’t owe them a penny. When Leroux sued the CRA for damages, the court went against him, leaving him broke, but did rule for the first time in Canadian history that CRA owes taxpayers a “duty of care.”
The CRA tried to overturn duty of care, but generous CTF donors stepped up to help Leroux fund a legal defence, and the CRA ultimately dropped its appeal. Duty of care has become an important legal precedent and is now being used in many court battles with the CRA across the country.
“When the CRA and department of justice put up a wall to prevent taxpayers from holding the CRA accountable, duty of care is the tool that can tear that wall down,” said Leroux. “Duty of care enables taxpayers to hold CRA employees accountable for their actions. No longer will this agency be allowed to treat taxpayers in a negligent way.”
Previous recipients of the CTF’s TaxFighter Award include three MPs who turned down a lucrative pension plan, Ralph Klein, Jim Dinning, Kevin Page, Dave Rutherford, Lorne Gunter, Tom Brodbeck and others.
“We wish Irvin and his family had been fully restored for all they lost financially,” said CTF BC Director Jordan Bateman. “But hopefully this award will be a reminder of the great thanks every Canadian taxpayer owes Irvin Leroux, the little guy who took on the CRA giant.”
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For more information:
Jordan Bateman – c: 604-999-3319 or email [email protected]
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