VICTORIA/REGINA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today revealed that the Attorney General of Saskatchewan served notice on June 26, 2002 that it intends to appear and make submissions in the appeal of the historic Indian taxation court case Benoit v. Canada. The Saskatchewan government now joins the CTF and the provincial governments of Alberta and B.C. as official intervenors in the case.

"The CTF has been involved in this case for several years, and we congratulate the Saskatchewan government for finally joining the case. Clearly a growing number of government policy makers are beginning to recognize the momentous consequences of the initial court ruling if allowed to stand," stated Tanis Fiss, Director of the CTF's Centre for Aboriginal Policy Change.

The case involves a group of natives from northern Alberta, who claimed their ancestors had been promised a total exemption from taxes when they signed Treaty 8 in 1899. The Indian plaintiffs successfully sued the Canadian government in Federal Court with the Alberta government and the CTF acting as intervenors. On March 7, 2002 Justice Douglas Campbell ruled that Treaty 8 Indians and their descendants would never have to pay taxes ever again. The federal government has appealed the ruling which affects about 35,000 status Indians from northern Alberta, B.C., NWT, and Saskatchewan. The appeal will be heard in Ottawa from Nov 19-21, 2002 in the Federal Court of Appeal. The B.C. Government intervened on May 24, 2002.

"Better late than never for the Saskatchewan government to get involved," stated CTF-Sask Director Richard Truscott. "Exempting certain people from paying taxes based on ancestry would spell real trouble for Saskatchewan. How will our province survive if a growing proportion of the population is isolated from the economy and are exempt from paying taxes in support of hospitals, schools and roads "

Truscott continued, "Indian leaders know the thin edge of the wedge when they see one and are on record demanding that all people of aboriginal descent in the province be completely tax-free. They argue that if the ancestors of one treaty allege they were promised a total tax exemption, the ancestors of all treaties must get the same treatment."

The CTF has intervened in the case to outline the potential damage to the social, economic, and political fabric of the country caused by exempting certain individuals from the responsibility of paying taxes because of their ancestry. The CTF believes that taxation according to racial ancestry is a violation of the equality provisions of the Charter and if an individual is exempted from paying taxes it should be because they are too poor to pay, not because of their ancestry.