Higginbottom v. The Queen, 2004 TCC 423 (Informal Procedure)

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Appeal called for hearing on June 1, 2004 at Kamloops, British Columbia

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JUDGMENT AND REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Upon reviewing the file and the Appellant's application for a second adjournment of this appeal on May 31, 2004, the Court notes:

[1]      This matter was set for hearing at Kamloops, British Columbia for February 6, 2004. The Appellant applied for an adjournment on February 2, 2004 on the following grounds - Illness as stated without a doctor's certificate. The adjournment was granted.

[2]      Before this matter was again set for hearing, the Hearings Coordinator contacted the Appellant on April 16, 2004, to agree on a suitable date. The Appellant agreed to June 1, 2004 at Kamloops, British Columbia and set the time for hearing at 1:30 p.m. to allow her to travel from Merritt to Kamloops, a one-hour drive on a divided four-lane highway.

[3]      The May 31, 2004 request for adjournment by the Appellant contained the following grounds:

(a)       Bowel problem and other medical complaints respecting which, in the circumstances of this request and the subject of the appeal, require an acceptable medical certificate.

(b)      No reliable transportation which is not acceptable in view of the Appellant's direction as to the date and time of hearing in her telephone conversation of April 16, 2004 with the Hearings Coordinator.

(c)      Lack of a lawyer which again is unacceptable in view of her directions of April 16, 2004 to the Hearings Coordinator, and the time that has passed since then in which she could have obtained a lawyer.

[4]      As a result of the foregoing, the Court denied the application for adjournment on May 31, 2004 and the denial was communicated to the Appellant on that day.

[5]      On June 1, 2004, this appeal was called for hearing at 1:30 p.m. at the courthouse in Kamloops, British Columbia as agreed to and directed by the Appellant to this Court. The Appellant did not appear.

[6]      The matter was adjourned until 2:00 p.m.

[7]      At 2:00 p.m. this appeal was called for hearing a second time, pursuant to the Tax Court of Canada Rules. The Appellant did not appear. Crown counsel thereupon moved that the appeal be dismissed for want of prosecution.

[8]      For the foregoing reasons, the appeal is dismissed.

Signed at Calgary, Alberta, this 14th day of June 2004.

Beaubier, J.