Ontario Court of Appeal dismisses Muslim Association of Canada appeal from Ontario Superior Court decision

Mr. Justice Koehnen’s decision was appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which on July 8, 2024, dismissed the Muslim Association appeal. [PDF]

The main takeaway from the Ontario Court of Appeal is that MAC’s claim was premature, as CRA had not completed the audit.

The second takeaway is, “Moreover, while we have not reviewed the Audit decision, we were advised in oral submissions that the CRA is no longer seeking revocation of the appellant’s charitable status (as was recommended in the AFL).”   It will be interesting to see what CRA ultimately proposes.  Will it be an educational letter, a compliance agreement, a penalty or a suspension of receipting privileges?  If it is an educational letter or compliance agreement, unfortunately, the secrecy provisions of the ITA will not allow the public to know.  Only if it is a penalty or suspension will that be public.   Of course, this dismissal may be appealed.

The third takeaway is that van Rensburg J.A. issued a temporary sealing order on May 14, 2024, relating to certain fresh evidence introduced in the appeal, and the parties will have to make submissions as to whether that sealing order will be permanent.  There is no indication of the nature of the fresh evidence.   We have discussed here the Ontario court’s concern about sealing orders relating to matters of importance to the public.