http://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/tcc-cci/decisions/en/item/182067/index.do#
Shannon v. The Queen (November 11, 2016 – 2016 TCC 255, Graham J.).
Précis: Mr. Shannon had appeared as agent in six appeals before the Tax Court, including two before Justice Graham. He repeatedly engaged in disruptive conduct and making the type of pseudo-legal commercial arguments that have become all too common of late, e.g., “ the Income Tax Act fails to describe a taxpayer as a person who gains his or her livelihood in the private sector and thus people who do are not subject to tax” [para. 56(a)]. The Court of its own motion invited submissions on why he should not be barred from acting as an agent before the Tax Court without the prior permission of the Court. After receiving submissions from both Mr. Shannon and the Crown it took the unusual, and many would say welcome, step of barring Mr. Shannon from appearing as agent for taxpayers in the Tax Court without first obtaining the permission of the Court. Interestingly, the Court not only found Mr. Shannon’s conduct abusive but found that it in some cases it served to deprive his clients of tax relief that they might have otherwise obtained (at least until they dismissed him). This may be a ray of hope for clearing the logjam of such cases that have been clogging the apparatus of the Tax Court in recent years.
Decision: The Court’s reasons are thorough and very well supported in terms of jurisprudence and procedure. I won’t bother summarizing them because I do not think they will be of much interest to a non-specialist reader. The gist of the decision can be found in the very succinct judgment of Justice Graham:
[1] Chris Shannon is prohibited from representing any taxpayer as an agent before this Court without first obtaining written permission from the Court.
[2] If Mr. Shannon wishes to obtain permission to act as an agent on a specific matter or on all future matters on which he is retained, he shall apply in writing setting out the reasons why permission should be granted. Any such application shall not be longer than 10 pages. Any application that is longer than 10 pages will not be considered. The Court shall grant permission if it is satisfied that Mr. Shannon’s involvement in the matter or matters will not harm the proper administration of justice. A decision of the Court to deny permission shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal.
[3] Nothing in this Order prevents Mr. Shannon from acting on his own behalf in a dispute concerning any matter over which this Court has jurisdiction.
[4] Mr. Shannon shall be removed as the agent of any taxpayer for whom he is currently listed as agent. The address for service on any such matter shall be changed to the taxpayer’s address. A copy of this Order and the Reasons for Order shall be provided to each such taxpayer.
[5] A copy of this Order and the Reasons for Order shall be provided to any taxpayer for whom Mr. Shannon has previously acted as agent and to the Crown.