Citizen-led inquiry into Canada's pandemic response makes stop in Winnipeg
Public officials have been summoned to testify at hearings being held across the country, organizers say
"This is a unique inquiry in many ways. It is citizen run, it is citizen funded," said Michelle Leduc Catlin, a spokesperson for the National Citizens Inquiry into Canada's Response to COVID-19.
"There is no one funder. This is done through people in Canada who want to hear what Canadians have experienced."
Hearings held so far have included testimony from expert witnesses and members of the public on pandemic policies. The inquiry started in Truro, N.S., before moving to Toronto and now to Winnipeg, where the first of three days of hearings took place at the Holiday Inn Airport West Hotel on Thursday.
Witnesses questioned the decision-making and science behind public health measures such as vaccine mandates, restrictions on in-person gatherings and school closures.
National Citizens Inquiry spokesperson Michelle Leduc Catlin says the citizen-led inquiry is unique. (Randall McKenzie/CBC)
They also spoke out about concerns around allegations of media censorship of scientists and experts.
The inquiry was originally launched by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, who organizers said has since stepped aside as spokesperson.
Four inquiry commissioners listened and asked questions of witnesses participating both remotely via video and in person.
During one exchange, commissioner Ken Drysdale asked Stanford University health policy Prof. Jay Bhattacharya whether risk assessments on implementing policies such as remote learning gave enough consideration to the consequences.
"You would think about a whole wide range of outcomes from a policy, not just simply the putative benefits of a policy before you adopt it," said Bhattacharya, a critic of lockdown measures in the U.S. and a co-author of the controversial Great Barrington Declaration. It suggested building up herd immunity by allowing the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to spread naturally, and encouraged focused protection of people at higher risk of dying from the illness.
"I think so many of those principles were thrown aside in the decision-making around COVID and COVID policy," said Bhattacharya, who also testified as a witness during a 2021 court challenge against Manitoba's COVID-19 restrictions launched by seven Manitoba churches.
A justice with what was then Court of Queen's Bench rejected their argument that the restrictions violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ruling they were necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Stefanson, Roussin summoned
The inquiry's website says public officials, including Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson and Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin, were summoned to testify.
In a statement to CBC, the province said Roussin receives a number of invitations and declined this one.
Decisions on COVID-19 restrictions "were made based on the best available medical advice," the province said in an email.
Patrick Allard, a vocal opponent of Manitoba's public health measures who was fined nearly $35,000 last year for violating those measures, signed up to testify about the impact on him and his family.
Patrick Allard is a vocal opponent of public health measures who signed up to participate in the National Citizens Inquiry. (Randall McKenzie/CBC)
"My ticketing during COVID protests, my arrests … I'm going to be bringing that up, I'm going to be bringing up the harms that I saw with my eyes among my own family from lockdown measures," Allard said, noting he's particularly concerned about the isolation his great-grandmother experienced in a nursing home.
Rick Dyck, a People's Party of Canada riding director in Winnipeg, said he attended because he disagreed with public health measures such as mask mandates in grocery stores.
"There was a time I went to [a grocery store] on St. James, and there was an officer there and he denied me the ability to buy food just because I wasn't wearing a mask," Dyck said.
"I'm glad this inquiry is happening so that we can get some accountability and to stop this from ever happening again."
Four
inquiry commissioners listened and asked questions of witnesses who
participated both remotely via video and in person on Thursday. (Randall McKenzie/CBC)
The hearings in Winnipeg are set to wrap up Saturday evening. The inquiry next stops in Saskatoon and is scheduled to end in Ottawa May 19.
Organizers said at the end of it all, the commissioners will put together a report with recommendations and share it publicly.
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David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> |  Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 5:10 PM | ||||
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https:// Heather DiGregorio Heather DiGregorio is a senior law partner at a regional law firm located in Calgary, Alberta. Heather has nearly 20 years of experience in the areas of tax planning and dispute resolution, which involves assisting her clients to navigate the complex and ever-evolving Canadian tax landscape. She is a past executive member of each of the Canadian Bar Association (Taxation Specialists) and the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society. She continues to be a frequent speaker and presenter at these organizations, as well as at the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Tax Executives Institute. Repeatedly recognized within the legal community as an expert and leading lawyer, Heather has represented clients at all levels of Court, including the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. https://www.banking.senate. Review of Current Investigations and Regulatory Actions Regarding the Mutual Fund Industry Date: Thursday, November 20, 2003 Time: 02:00 PM Topic The Committee will meet in OPEN SESSION to conduct the second in a series of hearings on the “Review of Current Investigations and Regulatory Actions Regarding the Mutual Fund Industry.” Witnesses Witness Panel 1 Mr. Stephen M. Cutler Director - Division of Enforcement Securities and Exchange Commission Cutler - November 20, 2003 Mr. Robert Glauber Chairman and CEO National Association of Securities Dealers Glauber - November 20, 2003 Eliot Spitzer Attorney General State of New York Spitzer - November 20, 2003 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Min.Mail / Courrier.Min (CRA/ARC)"<PABMINMAILG@cra-arc.gc.ca> Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 13:10:52 +0000 Subject: Your various correspondence about abusive tax schemes - 2017-02631 To: "motomaniac333@gmail.com"<motomaniac333@gmail.com> Mr. David Raymond Amos motomaniac333@gmail.com Dear Mr. Amos: Thank you for your various correspondence about abusive tax schemes, and for your understanding regarding the delay of this response. This is an opportunity for me to address your concerns about the way the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) deals with aggressive tax planning, tax avoidance, and tax evasion by targeting individuals and groups that promote schemes intended to avoid payment of tax. It is also an opportunity for me to present the Government of Canada’s main strategies for ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The CRA’s mission is to preserve the integrity of Canada’s tax system, and it is taking concrete and effective action to deal with abusive tax schemes. Through federal budget funding in 2016 and 2017, the government has committed close to $1 billion in cracking down on tax evasion and combatting tax avoidance at home and through the use of offshore transactions. This additional funding is expected to generate federal revenues of $2.6 billion over five years for Budget 2016, and $2.5 billion over five years for Budget 2017. More precisely, the CRA is cracking down on tax cheats by hiring more auditors, maintaining its underground economy specialist teams, increasing coverage of aggressive goods and service tax/harmonized sales tax planning, increasing coverage of multinational corporations and wealthy individuals, and taking targeted actions aimed at promoters of abusive tax schemes. On the offshore front, the CRA continues to develop tools to improve its focus on high‑risk taxpayers. It is also considering changes to its Voluntary Disclosures Program following the first set of program recommendations received from an independent Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee. In addition, the CRA is leading international projects to address the base erosion and profit shifting initiative of the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and is collaborating with treaty partners to address the Panama Papers leaks. These actions are evidence of the government’s commitment to protecting tax fairness. The CRA has strengthened its intelligence and technical capacities for the early detection of abusive tax arrangements and deterrence of those who participate in them. To ensure compliance, it has increased the number of actions aimed at promoters who use illegal schemes. These measures include increased audits of such promoters, improved information gathering, criminal investigations where warranted, and better communication with taxpayers. To deter potential taxpayer involvement in these schemes, the CRA is increasing notifications and warnings through its communications products. It also seeks partnerships with tax preparers, accountants, and community groups so that they can become informed observers who can educate their clients. The CRA will assess penalties against promoters and other representatives who make false statements involving illegal tax schemes. The promotion of tax schemes to defraud the government can lead to criminal investigations, fingerprinting, criminal prosecution, court fines, and jail time. Between April 1, 2011, and March 31, 2016, the CRA’s criminal investigations resulted in the conviction of 42 Canadian taxpayers for tax evasion with links to money and assets held offshore. In total, the $34 million in evaded taxes resulted in court fines of $12 million and 734 months of jail time. When deciding to pursue compliance actions through the courts, the CRA consults the Department of Justice Canada to choose an appropriate solution. Complex tax-related litigation is costly and time consuming, and the outcome may be unsuccessful. All options to recover amounts owed are considered. More specifically, in relation to the KPMG Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme, publicly available court records show that it is through the CRA’s efforts that the scheme was discovered. The CRA identified many of the participants and continues to actively pursue the matter. The CRA has also identified at least 10 additional tax structures on the Isle of Man, and is auditing taxpayers in relation to these structures. To ensure tax fairness, the CRA commissioned an independent review in March 2016 to determine if it had acted appropriately concerning KPMG and its clients. In her review, Ms. Kimberley Brooks, Associate Professor and former Dean of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, examined the CRA’s operational processes and decisions in relation to the KPMG offshore tax structure and its efforts to obtain the names of all taxpayers participating in the scheme. Following this review, the report, released on May 5, 2016, concluded that the CRA had acted appropriately in its management of the KPMG Isle of Man file. The report found that the series of compliance measures the CRA took were in accordance with its policies and procedures. It was concluded that the procedural actions taken on the KPMG file were appropriate given the facts of this particular case and were consistent with the treatment of taxpayers in similar situations. The report concluded that actions by CRA employees were in accordance with the CRA’s Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct. There was no evidence of inappropriate interaction between KPMG and the CRA employees involved in the case. Under the CRA’s Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct, all CRA employees are responsible for real, apparent, or potential conflicts of interests between their current duties and any subsequent employment outside of the CRA or the Public Service of Canada. Consequences and corrective measures play an important role in protecting the CRA’s integrity. The CRA takes misconduct very seriously. The consequences of misconduct depend on the gravity of the incident and its repercussions on trust both within and outside of the CRA. Misconduct can result in disciplinary measures up to dismissal. All forms of tax evasion are illegal. The CRA manages the Informant Leads Program, which handles leads received from the public regarding cases of tax evasion across the country. This program, which coordinates all the leads the CRA receives from informants, determines whether there has been any non-compliance with tax law and ensures that the information is examined and conveyed, if applicable, so that compliance measures are taken. This program does not offer any reward for tips received. The new Offshore Tax Informant Program (OTIP) has also been put in place. The OTIP offers financial compensation to individuals who provide information related to major cases of offshore tax evasion that lead to the collection of tax owing. As of December 31, 2016, the OTIP had received 963 calls and 407 written submissions from possible informants. Over 218 taxpayers are currently under audit based on information the CRA received through the OTIP. With a focus on the highest-risk sectors nationally and internationally and an increased ability to gather information, the CRA has the means to target taxpayers who try to hide their income. For example, since January 2015, the CRA has been collecting information on all international electronic funds transfers (EFTs) of $10,000 or more ending or originating in Canada. It is also adopting a proactive approach by focusing each year on four jurisdictions that raise suspicion. For the Isle of Man, the CRA audited 3,000 EFTs totalling $860 million over 12 months and involving approximately 800 taxpayers. Based on these audits, the CRA communicated with approximately 350 individuals and 400 corporations and performed 60 audits. In January 2017, I reaffirmed Canada’s important role as a leader for tax authorities around the world in detecting the structures used for aggressive tax planning and tax evasion. This is why Canada works daily with the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre (JITSIC), a network of tax administrations in over 35 countries. The CRA participates in two expert groups within the JITSIC and leads the working group on intermediaries and proponents. This ongoing collaboration is a key component of the CRA’s work to develop strong relationships with the international community, which will help it refine the world-class tax system that benefits all Canadians. The CRA is increasing its efforts and is seeing early signs of success. Last year, the CRA recovered just under $13 billion as a result of its audit activities on the domestic and offshore fronts. Two-thirds of these recoveries are the result of its audit efforts relating to large businesses and multinational companies. But there is still much to do, and additional improvements and investments are underway. Tax cheats are having a harder and harder time hiding. Taxpayers who choose to promote or participate in malicious and illegal tax strategies must face the consequences of their actions. Canadians expect nothing less. I invite you to read my most recent statement on this matter at canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/ statement_from_ Thank you for taking the time to write. I hope the information I have provided is helpful. Sincerely, The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier Minister of National Revenue
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