Beth Symes

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Beth Symes, CM , [1] Queen's University alumna [2] is a Canadian lawyer [1] [3] who fought the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA, formerly known as Revenue Canada) all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in order to deduct childcare expenses she incurred in order to earn income as a partner in her law firm.

Order of Canada order

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order and the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. It comes second only to membership in the Order of Merit, which is the personal gift of Canada's monarch.

Queens University university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Queen's University at Kingston is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, via a royal charter issued by Queen Victoria, the university predates Canada's founding by 26 years. Queen's holds more than 1,400 hectares of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. Queen's is organized into ten undergraduate, graduate, and professional faculties and schools.

Canada Revenue Agency government agency

The Canada Revenue Agency, known as the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency previously and as Revenue Canada before that, is a Canadian federal agency that administers tax laws for the Government of Canada and for most provinces and territories, international trade legislation, and various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through the tax system. It also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and tax credit programmes such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit Program.

Background

Symes practised law full-time as a partner in a law firm during 1982 through 1985. [4] During that period she employed a nanny to care for her children, and deducted the wages paid to the nanny as a business expense on her personal income tax return. Revenue Canada initially allowed these deductions, but later retroactively re-assessed and disallowed them. Symes objected to the re-assessment, but CRA denied the objection.

Symes further appealed to the Federal Court, Trial Division, which ruled that the expenses were indeed valid and legitimate business expenses.

Federal Court (Canada) current federal Canadian trial court

The Federal Court is a Canadian trial court that hears cases arising under certain areas of federal law. The Federal Court is a lower court with nationwide jurisdiction.

The case was further appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), which ruled in Symes v. Canada [1993] 4 S.C.R. 695 that Symes' childcare expenses were not deductible as business expenses. Of great interest is the fact that of the nine Supreme Court judges deciding the case (two were female, seven were male), the two female judges dissented, but the seven males carried the majority decision.

Supreme Court of Canada highest court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada, the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts. Its decisions are the ultimate expression and application of Canadian law and binding upon all lower courts of Canada, except to the extent that they are overridden or otherwise made ineffective by an Act of Parliament or the Act of a provincial legislative assembly pursuant to section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Beth Symes, C.M.". Order of Canada. Governor General of Canada. 16 September 2011.Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. "Alumna founder of LEAF named to Order of Canada". Queens University. January 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  3. "Feminist Lawyer Beth Symes made Companion of the Order of Canada". Institute for Feminist Legal Studies at Osgoode (ILFS). Osgoode Hall Law School. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. "Symes v. Canada [1993] 4 S.C.R. 695". Human & Constitutional Rights Resource Page. Arthur W. Diamond Law Library at Columbia Law School. Retrieved 31 July 2017.