Canada Revenue Agency will be asking the B.C. Supreme Court "yet again" to throw out the lawsuit of a Prince George businessman Irvin Leroux without the case going to trial, says an advocacy group that has come to his aid.
The motion to dismiss the long-running case will be heard on Friday at the Prince George courthouse, the Canadian Constitution Foundation said Wednesday in a statement.
According to the Foundation, the CRA has already tried to get the case thrown out of court three times, in 2007, 2009 and 2010, at the B.C. Supreme Court level, and once through the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2011, but fell short each time.
"Now, the CRA is alleging that Leroux's amended claim is 'barred by operation of the Limitation Act' - in other words, that Leroux delayed too long in launching his lawsuit," said the Foundation in a statement issued Wednesday.
"They are trying to win this by attrition, to avoid having my case heard on its merits. But I'm not planning to give up," Leroux said in the statement.
"I'm entitled to my day in court to expose their wrongdoings. I've also heard from many other taxpayers who are angry over the money the CRA is wasting just to keep delaying me."
Leroux is alleging that during a 1996 audit, the CRA had removed papers from his office without his consent, then lost or shredded them and then assessed him for almost $1 million in taxes, penalties and interest.
The tax prosecution resolved after several years with the CRA owing Leroux a refund. However, as a result of the CRA's actions, Leroux lost his home, his business and his life savings and is seeking compensation through a lawsuit for misfeasance he filed against the CRA in 2006.
The CRA has declined to comment on the case while it has remained before the court.
The Canadian Constitution Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending Canadians' constitutional freedoms through "education, communication and litigation" and, in 2010, retained a lawyer for Leroux.
