[2012] 3 F.C.R. D-1
Aboriginal Peoples
Taxation
Appeal from Tax Court of Canada (T.C.C.) decision (2009 TCC 325) rejecting appellant’s submission Minister of National Revenue erroneously including income earned from commercial fishing business in income for taxation years at issue—T.C.C. holding that, since income in question not situated on reserve, not exempt from tax under Indian Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. I-5, s. 87(1)(b)—Whether business income from fishing situated on reserve—Appellant, status Indian, member of Grand Rapids First Nation living on Grand Rapids Reserve—Self-employed fisher, owning two fishing quotas—Also member of Grand Rapids Fishermen’s Co-op (situated on reserve), which fishers dealing with to sell fish—T.C.C. wrongly attaching significant weight to fact all of appellant’s fish sold off reserve, to customer of fishers’ business rather than to Co-op, which played critical role in all aspects of members’ fishing businesses—What purchaser of fish doing with fish after making purchase irrelevant in determining situs of fishing business income—T.C.C. also wrongly stating that since appellant’s fishing activities carried on in commercial mainstream, activities not exempt from tax under Act, s. 87—Caution should be exercised in using commercial mainstream principle as basis for concluding that income not situated on reserve—Although Co-op not owning appellant’s fishing quotas, connection between Reserve, fishing business not weakened to extent that resulting income not situated on reserve—Appeal allowed.
Ballantyne v. Canada (A-362-09, 2012 FCA 95, Evans J.A., judgment dated March 20, 2012, 6 pp.)