Docket: 2008-2182(CPP)
BETWEEN:
MARITIME HARBOURS SOCIETY,
Appellant,
and
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE,
Respondent.
____________________________________________________________________
Motion
heard on February 9, 2009 at Halifax, Nova Scotia
Before: The Honourable
Justice Wyman W. Webb
Appearances:
|
Agent for the Appellant:
|
William
Watkins
|
|
Counsel for the Respondent:
|
Toks C. Omisade
|
____________________________________________________________________
ORDER
It is ordered that the Appellant shall have until April 10,
2009 to file an amended Notice of Appeal. If an amended Notice of Appeal is not
filed by then, the appeal will be quashed.
Signed at Toronto,
Ontario, this 27th day of February 2009.
“Wyman W. Webb”
Citation: 20-09TCC128
Date: 20090227
Docket: 2008-2182(CPP)
BETWEEN:
MARITIME HARBOURS SOCIETY,
Appellant,
and
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR ORDER
Webb, J.
[1]
The Appellant filed an
appeal under the Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”). The only issue raised by the
Appellant in its Notice of Appeal is that the assessment of the CPP premiums
should be vacated on the basis of a Minutes of Settlement between the Appellant
and Her Majesty the Queen, as represented by the Minister of Transport. The
Respondent has brought a motion to quash the Appellant’s appeal.
[2]
This Court was formed by an Act of
Parliament, the Tax Court of Canada Act. The jurisdiction of this Court is
set out in section 12 of that Act and in particular subsection 12(1) of this Act
provides as follows:
12. (1) The
Court has exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and determine references and
appeals to the Court on matters arising under the Air Travellers
Security Charge Act, the Canada Pension Plan, the Cultural
Property Export and Import Act, Part V.1 of the Customs Act, the Employment
Insurance Act, the Excise Act, 2001, Part IX of the Excise Tax
Act, the Income Tax Act, the Old Age Security Act, the Petroleum
and Gas Revenue Tax Act and the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge
Act, 2006 when references or appeals to the Court are provided for in
those Acts.
(emphasis
added)
[3]
Since this subsection provides
that the jurisdiction of this Court to hear and determine appeals on matters
arising under the CPP is when appeals to this Court are provided for in this
Act, the only matters that can be appealed to this Court in relation to CPP
matters are those matters for which a right of appeal to this Court is provided
in the CPP.
[4]
The right to appeal under the CPP
is set out in section 28 of this Act which provides as follows:
28. (1) A person affected by a decision on an appeal to the
Minister under section 27 or 27.1, or the person's representative,
may, within 90 days after the decision is communicated to the person, or within
any longer time that the Tax Court of Canada on application made to it within
90 days after the expiration of those 90 days allows, appeal from
the decision to that Court in accordance with the Tax Court of Canada Act
and the applicable rules of court made thereunder.
(emphasis
added)
[5]
Section 27 of the CPP provides as
follows:
27. An appeal
to the Minister from a ruling may be made by the Minister of Social Development
at any time, and by any other person concerned within 90 days after the person
is notified of the ruling.
[6]
Also section 26.1 of the CPP provides
as follows:
26.1 (1) The Minister of Social Development, an employer, an employee
or a person claiming to be an employer or an employee may request an officer of
the Canada Revenue Agency authorized by the Minister of National Revenue to
make a ruling on any of the following questions:
(a) whether an
employment is pensionable;
(b) how long
an employment lasts, including the dates on which it begins and ends;
(c) what is
the amount of any earnings from pensionable employment;
(d) whether a
contribution is payable;
(e) what is
the amount of a contribution that is payable; and
(f) who is the
employer of a person in pensionable employment.
[7]
Therefore the only matters that
can be appealed to this Court are matters that could properly form the basis of
a ruling request under section 26.1 of the CPP. The reference to “whether a
contribution is payable” would be a reference to whether a contribution is
payable in accordance with the provisions of the CPP.
[8]
The Minutes of Settlement signed
by the Minister of Transport cannot amend the CPP. Whether any amount is
payable under the CPP can only be changed by an Act of Parliament, not by a
document signed by the Minister of Transport. What affect, if any, that the
Minutes of Settlement may have on whether the amount may be collected is
another matter. This, however, is not a matter that arises under the CPP but
arises as a result of a separate document that has been signed. As a result,
the affect that the Minutes of Settlement may have on the issue of whether the
amount may be collected is not a matter that can be appealed to this Court.
[9]
The representative of the
Appellant stated at the hearing of the Motion that he did have other grounds
that he wanted to raise in relation to the assessment under the CPP and he
requested time to amend the Notice of Appeal. As a result, the Appellant shall have
until April 10, 2009 to amend its Notice of Appeal. If the Notice of Appeal is
not amended by April 10, 2009, the appeal will be quashed.
Signed at Toronto, Ontario, this 27th day of February
2009.
“Wyman W. Webb”
CITATION: 2009TCC128
COURT FILE NO.: 2008-2182(CPP)
STYLE OF CAUSE: MARITIME HARBOURS SOCIETY AND M.N.R.
PLACE OF HEARING: Halifax,
Nova Scotia
DATE OF HEARING: February 9, 2009
REASONS FOR ORDER
BY: The Honourable Justice Wyman W. Webb
DATE OF ORDER: February 27, 2009
APPEARANCES:
|
Agent for the
Appellant:
|
William Watkins
|
|
Counsel for the
Respondent:
|
Toks C. Omisade
|
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For the Appellant:
Name:
Firm:
For the
Respondent: John H. Sims, Q.C.
Deputy
Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa,
Canada
Email this Content