Date: 199990924
Docket: T-495-99
OTTAWA, Ontario, September 24, 1999
BEFORE: Rouleau J.
Between:
MICHELLE LEVASSEUR,
Plaintiff,
And:
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE,
Defendant.
ORDER AND REASONS
ROULEAU J.
[1] This case concerns an application to review and set aside a decision by the Minister of National Revenue refusing to disclose information pursuant to an application for access to information regarding a tax audit made on November 13, 1995, in connection with the annual payment of taxes levied under the GST (goods and services tax) and QST (Quebec sales tax), money which was levied for a period of three and a half years.
[2] The plaintiff asked Revenue Canada and Revenue Quebec to give her a complete copy of the entire file dealing with the tax audit of her convenience store. In accordance with that request, the Ministers for the two institutions sent the plaintiff all the documents except for twenty pages which were held to constitute a [TRANSLATION] "confidential" document.
[3] Six of these twenty pages, which were kept by Revenue Quebec, were forwarded to Revenue Canada and could not be given to the plaintiff under an agreement existing between Revenue Quebec and Revenue Canada. Revenue Quebec accordingly denied the plaintiff access to the document in question on the ground that its disclosure would be detrimental to the conduct of relations between the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada.
[4] For the purposes of this motion Gilles Gaignery, Director, Access to Information and Privacy Division, Revenue Canada, filed an affidavit in which he stated that the twenty pages in question the disclosure of which to the plaintiff was denied pursuant to her application under s. 12(1) of the Privacy Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-21, did not in any way concern her.
[5] At the hearing held at Baie Comeau on September 7, 1999 I opened the sealed envelope containing the twenty pages making up Appendix A1 and was able to confirm Mr. Gaignery's statements that these documents did not concern either the plaintiff or the conduct of her business.
[6] In her request for information Ms. Levasseur asked that she be sent a copy of any letter or communication received by Revenue Quebec or Revenue Canada which constituted either a complaint or information regarding her.
[7] The affidavit in the plaintiff"s file contains a sworn statement that no document of this kind appears in the plaintiff"s file and I accept that testimony as true.
[8] The plaintiff indicated in her motion that she had certain questions about the documents titled [TRANSLATION] "QST selection card", documents 83 to 86, which were allegedly prepared by Revenue Quebec in April 1985, because the audit of the bookkeeping at her convenience store was not begun until October 1985. She requested certain particulars regarding the source of these cards. I feel that this request is legitimate and direct that the explanations be given to the plaintiff in this regard.
[9] The application is dismissed except for the information to be provided by the Department regarding the plaintiff's questions concerning the QST selection cards.
OTTAWA, Ontario
September 24, 1999
Certified true translation
Bernard Olivier, LL. B.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
| STYLE OF CAUSE: MICHELLE LEVASSEUR |
v. MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
PLACE OF HEARING: BAIE COMEAU, QUEBEC
DATE OF HEARING: SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: ROULEAU J.
DATED: SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
APPEARANCES:
MICHELLE LEVASSEUR FOR HERSELF
LOUIS SÉBASTIEN FOR THE DEFENDANT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
MORRIS ROSENBERG FOR THE DEFENDANT
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
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