• Canadian Taxpayers Federation files intervenor brief in historic court action
• Indians claim Treaty 8 grants them permanent tax exemption, on- and off-reserve

CTF Brief

EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), intervening in the Federal Court action of Benoit et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, filed its Written Brief in support of a racially neutral tax system at the Federal Court in Edmonton.

The brief, posted at the CTF's web site, presents the following legal arguments:

Aboriginal rights are limited to the preservation of what is distinctive about aboriginal culture, and cannot form a basis for creating tax exemptions based on racial ancestry for Indians living and working off of reserves.

The Commissioners who negotiated Treaty 8 with the Indians on behalf of the Crown did not have legal authority to give Treaty 8 Indians a general tax exemption.

Exempting Treaty 8 Indians from taxation would legislate racial discrimination, contrary to principles of racial equality.

Tax exemptions based on racial ancestry would breach international treaties and covenants entered into by Canada.

Tax exemptions based on racial ancestry would violate the section 15 equality rights of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The plaintiffs in the case are Charles Benoit, the Athabasca Tribal Corporation, the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, and the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council. The Federal Court action was commenced in 1992. The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that Treaty 8, signed in 1899 and covering northern Alberta and parts of B.C., Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, guarantees Treaty 8 Indians the right to be free from all taxation for all time, both off-reserve and on-reserve. The federal and Alberta governments oppose the plaintiffs' application for this declaration. The CTF was granted intervenor status in March of 2001, to argue against tax exemptions based on racial ancestry.