Citation: 2012 TCC 294
Date: 20120814
Docket: 2007-2429(IT)I
BETWEEN:
MARINA THOMPSON,
Appellant,
and
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,
Respondent,
and
Docket: 2007-845(IT)I
HAROLD THOMPSON
Appellant,
and
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR ORDER
C. Miller J.
[1]
Ms. Marina Thompson and
Mr. Harold Thompson have applied to have their appeals reinstated pursuant to s.18.21
of the Tax Court of Canada Act (the "Act"). The facts
surrounding the applications have been set out in the Respondent’s Written
Submissions as follows:
Facts
6. The history of these appeals is set out in the Affidavits
of Denis Desloges, Court files: 2007-2429(IT)I and 2007-845(IT)I, both sworn on
December 13, 2011 and both filed with the Court on December 15, 2012
in support of the Motion.
7. This is the second time that the appellants’ appeals have
been dismissed because they failed to appeal for a hearing. On May 9, 2011, the
appellants failed to appear for a Status Hearing and their appeal were
dismissed.
8. On June 17, 2011 and June 18, 2011, the appellants
requested that their appeals be reinstated by way of letters sent to the Court.
The respondent did not oppose this request. The Court reinstated the appeals
and ordered that the appellants each file an amended notice of appeal by July
15, 2011.
9. The appellants did not file their amended notices of
appeal by the deadline imposed by the Court Order and the respondent filed a
motion to have the appeals dismissed for delay.
10. On August 29, 2011, the appellants appeared before Justice
Bédard in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for the hearing of the Motion. At the
hearing, they indicated that they wished to argue Constitutional issued
including Aboriginal rights. Justice Bédard ordered the appellants to file an amended
notice of appeal by September 15, 2011, and to file and serve a Notice of
Constitutional Question not later than November 4, 2011. In addition,
the respondent was ordered to file and serve a motion, if any, that the appeals
be heard under the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) not
later than December 15, 2011.
11. On September 14, 2011, the appellants filed their amended notices
of appeal.
12. On September 22, 2011, the respondent filed the replies to
the amended notices of appeal and served the appellants separately with letters
reminding them of the November 4, 2011 deadline to file a Notice of
Constitutional Question.
13. The appellants did not file their Notices of
Constitutional Question by the November 4, 2011 deadline imposed by the Court.
14. On November 9, 2011, counsel for the respondent received a
letter from both appellants where they indicated that their Notices of
Constitutional Questions were due on November 10, 2011.
15. Respondent’s counsel wrote to the appellants by letter
dated November 16, 2011 and indicated that only the Tax Court had the ability
to grant extensions of time. The appellants were provided with the Court’s
toll-free telephone number.
16. The respondent filed a Notice of Motion requesting a
telephone conference call with the parties and the Court to determine the
appellants’ intentions with respect to their appeals, particularly in pursuing
the constitutional issues, and to amend the August 31, 2011 Order to allow the
respondent an extension of time to file and serve a motion, if any, that the
appeals be heard under the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure).
17. This motion was scheduled to be heard in Sault Ste. Marie
on July 12, 2012. The appellants did not appear. Their appeals were dismissed
and a Judgment was issued indicating such.
[2]
On July 19, 2012 Ms.
Marina Thompson wrote to the Court:
This
letter is regarding the attached letter written July 5th, 2012.
The
attached letter was to be emailed to the Tax Court before our court date but
because of miscommunication between my son and myself this letter was never
sent. When I had enquired about the letter my son said he had emailed it, when,
in fact, he, had referred, that he had emailed the letter to me and not to the
Tax Court.
It
wasn’t until I asked my son if he had heard from the Tax Court yet regarding
the letter that I found that the attached letter had never been sent and was
still sitting in my email box.
I’ve
attached the letter to this letter and hope that my mistake can be rectified.
[3]
Attached to her letter
was the following letter dated July 5th, 2012:
Regarding
the Order of May 22, 2012 requesting our presence to have our case heard in
Sault Ste. Marie, on Thursday July 12, 2012. We are respectfully asking for an
extension.
Recently
during the month of June has been a very trying time as my Father passed away
and dealing with the family arrangements and so forth have been very time
consuming. As well myself and my Mother did not receive our correspondence in a
timely fashion as I was in and out of town I was unaware of this letter being
sent priority mail, and only received in late June via regular mail. This did
not allow myself and my Mother to prepare for our case, so we could defend our
taxation rights to the best of our ability. We have also did not have ample
time to coordinate our efforts with those members who we are sharing a similar
defense with.
[4]
Section 18.21 of the Act
permits an appellant whose appeal has been dismissed for failure to appear, to
apply to be reinstated. Section 18.21 of the Act reads:
(1) Where
an appellant does not appear on the day fixed for the hearing, or obtain an
adjournment of the hearing, of an appeal, the Court shall, on application by
the respondent and whether or not the appellant has received notice of the
application, order that the appeal be dismissed, unless the Court is of the
opinion that circumstances justify that the appeal be set down for hearing at a
later date.
(2) An
appellant whose appeal has been dismissed pursuant to subsection (1) may apply
to have the order of dismissal set aside and the appeal set down for hearing
(3) The
Court may set aside an order of dismissal made under subsection (1) where
(a) it would have been
unreasonable in all the circumstances for the appellant to have attended the
hearing; and
(b) the appellant
applied to have the order of dismissal set aside as soon as circumstances
permitted the application to be brought but, in any event, not later than one
hundred and eighty days after the day on which the order was mailed to the
appellant.
[5]
The Appellants have
acted swiftly to make their applications so it is only whether they meet the
requirement of s.18.21(3)(a) of the Act that is in issue: was it
unreasonable in all the circumstances for the Appellants to have attended Court
on July 12, 2012.
[6]
While the Respondent
raises the fact that this is the second time the Appellants have had to bring
this application, and that also the Appellants have failed to do all things
necessary to prosecute their appeals in a timely fashion, the Appellants’ first
hurdle to overcome is that set out in s.18.21(3)(a) of the Act. They
have not satisfied me that it would have been unreasonable for them to attend
on July 12, 2012.
[7]
Having gone through
this procedure previously, the Appellants were well aware of the importance of
appearing at the scheduled time. It is insufficient to rely on a mistaken
belief that they contacted the Court beforehand in seeking an adjournment.
Surely, not having received any acknowledgment from the Court regarding the
adjournment request they believed they had made, should have set off some
alarms. Even a call to the Court in the days leading up to the July 12, 2012
hearing would have quickly brought the mistake to light. It is not unreasonable
to expect such a minimal level of inquiry in the circumstances. No, I can only
conclude that Ms. Marina Thompson and Mr. Harold Thompson are not prepared to
diligently pursue their appeals. They have not provided sufficient
justification for their absence on July 12, 2012 and in the circumstances it
would not have been unreasonable for them to have attended.
[8]
This application is dismissed.
Signed at Ottawa, Canada, this 14th day of August 2012.
"Campbell J. Miller"
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