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Case information

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33259

Edward Sorbara, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2009-11-09 Close file on Leave
2009-11-06 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2009-11-06 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2009-11-05 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C49752, 2009 ONCA 506, dated June 23, 2009, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2009-09-28 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, (revised from CJ, Ab, Ro) to, CJ De Ro
2009-09-03 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, Completed on: 2009-09-03 Attorney General of Canada
2009-08-06 Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal
2009-08-05 Application for leave to appeal, 3 volumes, Completed on: 2009-08-05 Edward Sorbara

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Sorbara, Edward Applicant Active
Sorbara, Marisa Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Attorney General of Canada Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Sorbara, Edward

Counsel
M. Philip Tunley
Stockwoods LLP
150 King Street West
Suite 2512
TOronto, Ontario
M5H 1J9
Telephone: (416) 593-7200
FAX: (416) 593-9345
Email: philt@stockwoods.ca
Agent
Colin S. Baxter
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
1400 - 40 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5K6
Telephone: (613) 238-2000
FAX: (613) 563-9386
Email: cbaxter@mccarthy.ca

Party: Sorbara, Marisa

Counsel
M. Philip Tunley
Stockwoods LLP
150 King Street West
Suite 2512
TOronto, Ontario
M5H 1J9
Telephone: (416) 593-7200
FAX: (416) 593-9345
Email: philt@stockwoods.ca
Agent
Colin S. Baxter
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
1400 - 40 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5K6
Telephone: (613) 238-2000
FAX: (613) 563-9386
Email: cbaxter@mccarthy.ca

Party: Attorney General of Canada

Counsel
Josée Tremblay
Suzanie Chua
Attorney General of Canada
234 Wellington Street
East Tower, 9th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Telephone: (613) 957-1371
FAX: (613) 941-2293
Agent
Christopher M. Rupar
Attorney General of Canada
Bank of Canada Building - East Tower
234 Wellington Street, Room 1212
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Telephone: (613) 941-2351
FAX: (613) 954-1920
Email: christopher.rupar@justice.gc.ca

Summary

Keywords

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Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Taxation - Goods and services tax - Courts - Jurisdiction - Applicant plaintiffs commencing proposed class action seeking recovery from federal Crown of GST collected on fees charged by professional portfolio managers who manage investment accounts on fully discretionary basis - Crown moving for summary judgment on basis that Superior Court had no jurisdiction over allegations in claim - Whether constitutional right to recover amounts collected by Crown as taxes without proper legislative authority is limited to cases where such amounts are collected under an ultra vires taxing provision - Whether right of taxpayers to pursue such a claim in the provincial superior courts is effectively removed or limited by s. 12 of the Tax Court of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. T-2.

The Applicant plaintiffs have commenced a proposed class action seeking recovery from the federal Crown of goods and services tax (“GST”) collected since April 29, 2002, on fees charged by professional portfolio managers who manage investment accounts on a fully discretionary basis. The plaintiffs plead that in accordance with the definition of “financial service” found in s. 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. E-15, the services provided by portfolio managers are an “exempt supply” and, therefore, GST ought not to have been collected and remitted to the federal Crown. The Crown moved for summary judgment on the basis that the Superior Court had no jurisdiction over the allegations in the claim.

Lower court rulings

November 25, 2008
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-08-353782-00 CP

Motion to have action dismissed granted.

June 23, 2009
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C49752, 2009 ONCA 506

Appeal dismissed

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

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Factums on appeal

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

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Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-02-27