Date: 19990319
Docket: A-629-97
CORAM: STRAYER, JA.
BETWEEN:
MICHAEL R. GUILLEMETTE
Appellant
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Respondent
Heard at Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday the 18th day of March, 1999
Judgment delivered at
Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday the 18th day of March, 1999
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY: STRAYER, JA.
Date: 19990319
Docket: A-629-97
CORAM: STRAYER J.A.
BETWEEN:
MICHAEL R. GUILLEMETTE,
Appellant,
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Delivered from the bench at Vancouver, B.C., on March 18, 1999)
STRAYER J.A.
[1] We are all of the view that the appellant's constitutional argument cannot succeed.
[2] With respect to subsection 15(1) of the Charter, distinctions made in a taxing statute based on level of income relate to neither a specific nor an analogous ground of discrimination prohibited by subsection 15(1). Nor has the appellant persuaded us that the income support programs to which he refers are prima facie proscribed by subsection 15(1) and thus require justification under subsection 15(2).
[3] With respect to the taxing and spending power of Parliament, there is no authoritative jurisprudence to support the appellant's view that Parliament may not impose a direct tax such as income tax where some of the proceeds might be turned over to provincial governments to be used by them for provincial purposes. Parliament's taxing power is plenary under head 3 of section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867, namely, "the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation.". That is, no limit is stated either as to the form or the purpose of federal taxation. The money raised becomes part of the public property of Canada, over which, by section 91, head 1A, Parliament also has complete control, including its distribution to provincial or territorial governments or to individual Canadians.
[4] Nor are provincial powers over taxation or tax collection unlawfully delegated to federal authorities through the operation of the income tax system. The provincial power to tax set out in section 92 head 2 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is in respect of "direct taxation within the Province in order to the raising of a revenue for provincial purposes.". Each province has enacted income tax legislation fixing the tax base and rates applicable to its residents. The Government of Canada by administrative arrangement collects provincial income taxes for nine provinces along with federal taxes. But the law it applies for provincial tax collection is provincial law. The fact that these laws are framed by the provinces to be consistent with the system employed by the federal Income Tax Act is due to a choice the provinces in question make in order to avoid the extra expense and trouble of running their own collection systems. There is, however, no delegation by these provincial legislatures of legislative power of taxation to the Parliament of Canada.
[5] The appeal must therefore be dismissed with costs.
(Sgd.) "B.L. Strayer"
Judge
Vancouver, British Columbia
March 19, 1999
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
Date: 19990319
Docket: A-629-97
BETWEEN:
MICHAEL R. GUILLEMETTE
Appellant
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT NO.: A-629-97
STYLE OF CAUSE: MICHAEL R. GUILLEMETTE
Applicant
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: Vancouver, British Columbia
DATE OF HEARING: March 18, 1999
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY: STRAYER, JA.
CONCURRED IN BY: LINDEN, JA.
DATED: March 19, 1999
APPEARANCES:
| Mr. Michael Guillemette on his own behalf |
| Mr. Robert Carvalho for the Respondent |
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
| Mr. Michael Guillemette on his own behalf |
West Vancouver, BC
Mr. George Thomson for the Respondent
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
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