ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Eastern Canadian fishermen have won a court-ordered review of taxes paid on fishing licence buyouts in a long-fought judgment that accuses the Canada Revenue Agency of unfair treatment.
The Federal Court ruling was cause for celebration in hundreds of outports in Newfoundland and Labrador, and along Quebec's north shore, where more than 750 fishermen say they were gouged.
"They paid their taxes in 2000," said their lawyer, Eli Baker. "They've been waiting all the way up to now to finally hear that a judge agrees with us.
In a bluntly worded ruling, Judge Elizabeth Heneghan says the Canada Revenue Agency's Newfoundland and Labrador tax director, Wade Hiscock, "breached the applicant's right to procedural fairness" when he declined to review the case.
Read the complete story by Sue Bailey of The Canadian Press at Google.