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Canada - Taxation: Canada's Privacy Commissioner did not pay his taxes!
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sand-@wwdb.org
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Jun 22, 2003 10:34 PDT
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Revenue Canada forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski
appointed -articleAnd got away with it.
How come, then, can an ordinary citizen be hounded into
bankruptcy without forgiveness of their Revenue Canada
[CCRA] debt?
Simply because we don't know how!
It has to be that simple, right?
Surely, if one taxpayer who owes a debt which is in a
similar ratio to this man's assets and earnings at the time
of his debt to Revenue Canada, one would be equally
successful in offering 10% payment to get out from under the
wrath of the "tax collector".
Well, what "Alice in Wonderland" world do you live in!
Part of what I do for a living is assist people in making
presentations of exactly this to the government.
Let us see if we can make it stick!
One of the tricks is that you must be prepared to state that
you are going to file for personal bankruptcy. And you must
know that if you say that, apparently sometimes your
creditors can force you to do so if there is no settlement.
And you must have, in hand, 10% of your tax debt in order to
settle.
But to know that the big boys can play this game, and still
hold substantial public offices receiving wages and expenses
covered from the General Revenue Fund, into which they paid
10% of what they owed, sounds like a "board game" to me.
What better evidence that we are engaged in contract law, if
amounts can be negotiated away.
Now, I kind of like Mr. Radwanski's maverick decisions as
the Privacy Commissioner. And I don't doubt that he was in
trouble brought on by poor fiscal management of his affairs.
But the implications of this successful past with Revenue
Canada negotiation must be seen to be a part of the backlash
that lack of transparency and accountability in government.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Millar [mailto:mich-@BoldTrueFree.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 6:29 PM
To: Sandra Gibbs; Gordon Watson
Subject: Revenue Canada forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski
appointed-article
Fri, June 20, 2003
A writeoff
Revenue Canada forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski appointed
By GREG WESTON AND PHILIP LEE-SHANOK, SUN MEDIA
OTTAWA -- One day before George Radwanski was given his
$210,000-a-year patronage appointment as Canada's privacy
commissioner, Revenue Canada officially forgave $540,000 he
owed the federal government after years of not paying taxes,
according to documents obtained by Sun Media. A longtime
communications consultant to Jean Chretien and other
clients, Radwanski filed for bankruptcy protection in 1999
with only one registered creditor -- the federal tax
department.
Documents indicate that on July 26, 2000, Revenue Canada
officially wiped out Radwanski's tax bills totalling
$606,947 for only $67,726 in payments from him.
The next day, Chretien appointed Radwanski privacy
commissioner for a seven-year term.
Chretien's senior adviser, Eddie Goldenberg, says neither he
nor the prime minister "knew anything about a bankruptcy"
until Sun Media called the PM's office yesterday.
Radwanski told Sun Media he had never mentioned his tax
problems nor his insolvency to anyone in government prior to
his appointment as privacy commissioner.
"I had some issues with Revenue Canada and they were
resolved by mutual agreement in a totally appropriate way.
End of story.
"This had absolutely nothing to do with any dealings with
the government (other than Revenue Canada) or anything
else."
Chretien's appointment of Radwanski as privacy commissioner
put the former deadbeat taxpayer in charge of $11 million a
year of public funds, and gave him access to virtually
unlimited expense accounts.
| | From bankruptcy that cost taxpayers more than half a
|
million dollars, Radwanski's life certainly changed for the
better -- thanks to the same Canadian taxpayers.
In less than three years since his appointment, Radwanski
has collected almost $600,000 in salary, $54,000 in rent for
his Ottawa apartment, $93,000 in executive air trips home to
Toronto on weekends, $290,000 in travel expenses, including
19 foreign trips, more than $11,000 of wining and dining at
some of the fanciest restaurants in Ottawa, and, of course,
he has a government chauffeur.
A Commons committee investigating Radwanski is expected to
call for his resignation over his high-flying lifestyle on
the public tab, and over allegations he altered documents
and lied to the committee.
DECREASED EARNINGS
But Radwanski's huge tax delinquency, and subsequent
agreements with Revenue Canada to resolve it all, are bound
to shift the growing controversy to the circumstances
surrounding his getting the plum posting in the first place.
Documents show that Radwanski filed for personal bankruptcy
protection on Dec. 2, 1999, "primarily as a result of a
decrease in earnings from his consulting practice and
non-filing of tax returns over a period of years."
He reported his only assets were a $255,000 house in
Toronto, $3,000 in furniture, $4,000 in RRSPs, and a 1984
Peugeot worth $500.
On the other side of the balance sheet, the Toronto Dominion
Bank held a $205,000 mortgage on the house, and Revenue
Canada was claiming "approximately $500,000" in unpaid
taxes.
Radwanski stated he was making about $11,000 a month from
consulting contracts with two clients, both of which were
ending in March.
There is no mention of an offer to become privacy
commissioner anywhere in those or subsequent insolvency
documents.
At a meeting of creditors on Jan. 18, Revenue Canada agreed
to wipe out Radwanski's tax bills -- eventually listed as
$557,436 -- for payment of $62,726. Radwanski got to keep
his house, and the government would subsequently agree, as
part of his deal as privacy commissioner, to give him weekly
executive-class round-trip airfare between Ottawa and
Toronto so he could visit his home on weekends.
On Feb. 29, a notice was issued that Radwanski's deal with
the tax department would be presented to a Superior Court
judge on April 11 for approval.
'RAISED CONCERNS'
But about the same time, Radwanski's name was apparently
being officially floated in Ottawa as the Liberal
government's choice for privacy commissioner.
Conservative Leader Peter MacKay, then his party's House
leader, later recalled in an interview that "people raised
concerns then (in February 2000), not just me," about the
appointment reeking of patronage.
Radwanski said yesterday as far as he was concerned, the
insolvency proceedings were over the day his deal with the
taxman was approved in January 2000, and had nothing to do
with discussions about his appointment.
On March 24, at least a month after his nomination had been
proposed to the House leaders, Radwanski filed for a second
bankruptcy protection, this one for a company called 1131652
Ontario Inc., also known as Synergetics Consulting Group
Inc.
Like the first filing, this insolvency "was precipitated as
a result of certain tax liabilities" -- another $49,511 that
Radwanski had failed to pay to Revenue Canada.
On April 18, with Radwanski's corporate assets listed as
zero, Revenue Canada again agreed to wipe out the nearly
$50,000 owing in back-taxes -- this time for payment of only
$5,000.
That deal was sealed by the courts in June of that year.
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<TITLE>Revenue Canada forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski appointed -article</TITLE>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>And
got away with it.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>How
come, then, can an ordinary citizen be hounded into bankruptcy without
forgiveness of their Revenue Canada [CCRA] debt?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Simply
because we don't know how!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>It has
to be that simple, right?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Surely, if one taxpayer who owes a debt which is in a similar ratio to
this man's assets and earnings at the time of his debt to Revenue Canada,
one would be equally successful in offering 10% payment to get out from under
the wrath of the "tax collector".</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Well,
what "Alice in Wonderland" world do you live in!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Part
of what I do for a living is assist people in making presentations of exactly
this to the government.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Let us
see if we can make it stick!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>One of
the tricks is that you must be prepared to state that you are going to file for
personal bankruptcy. And you must know that if you say that, apparently
sometimes your creditors can force you to do so if there is no
settlement.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>And
you must have, in hand, 10% of your tax debt in order to
settle.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>But to
know that the big boys can play this game, and still hold substantial public
offices receiving wages and expenses covered from the General Revenue Fund, into
which they paid 10% of what they owed, sounds like a "board game" to
me.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>What
better evidence that we are engaged in contract law, if amounts can be
negotiated away.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Now, I
kind of like Mr. Radwanski's maverick decisions as the Privacy
Commissioner. And I don't doubt that he was in trouble brought on by poor
fiscal management of his affairs. But the implications of this successful
past with Revenue Canada negotiation must be seen to be a part of the backlash
that lack of transparency and accountability in government.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=310331917-22062003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Michael Millar
[mailto:mich-@BoldTrueFree.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, June 21, 2003 6:29
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Sandra Gibbs; Gordon Watson<BR><B>Subject:</B> Revenue Canada
forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski appointed-article<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT
size=5><FONT face=Times>Fri, June 20, 2003 <BR><B>A
writeoff<BR></B></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Times>
<H2>Revenue Canada forgave $540Gs day before Radwanski appointed<BR></H2><FONT
size=5><B>By <FONT color=#0000ff><U>GREG WESTON</U></FONT> AND <FONT
color=#0000ff><U>PHILIP LEE-SHANOK</U></FONT>, SUN
MEDIA<BR></B><BR> <BR><BR>OTTAWA -- One day before George Radwanski was
given his $210,000-a-year patronage appointment as Canada's privacy
commissioner, Revenue Canada officially forgave $540,000 he owed the federal
government after years of not paying taxes, according to documents obtained by
Sun Media. A longtime communications consultant to Jean Chretien and other
clients, Radwanski filed for bankruptcy protection in 1999 with only one
registered creditor -- the federal tax department. <BR><BR>Documents indicate
that on July 26, 2000, Revenue Canada officially wiped out Radwanski's tax bills
totalling $606,947 for only $67,726 in payments from him. <BR><BR>The next day,
Chretien appointed Radwanski privacy commissioner for a seven-year term.
<BR><BR>Chretien's senior adviser, Eddie Goldenberg, says neither he nor the
prime minister "knew anything about a bankruptcy" until Sun Media called the
PM's office yesterday. <BR><BR>Radwanski told Sun Media he had never mentioned
his tax problems nor his insolvency to anyone in government prior to his
appointment as privacy commissioner. <BR><BR>"I had some issues with Revenue
Canada and they were resolved by mutual agreement in a totally appropriate way.
End of story. <BR><BR>"This had absolutely nothing to do with any dealings with
the government (other than Revenue Canada) or anything else." <BR><BR>Chretien's
appointment of Radwanski as privacy commissioner put the former deadbeat
taxpayer in charge of $11 million a year of public funds, and gave him access to
virtually unlimited expense accounts. <BR><BR>>From bankruptcy that cost
taxpayers more than half a million dollars, Radwanski's life certainly changed
for the better -- thanks to the same Canadian taxpayers. <BR><BR>In less than
three years since his appointment, Radwanski has collected almost $600,000 in
salary, $54,000 in rent for his Ottawa apartment, $93,000 in executive air trips
home to Toronto on weekends, $290,000 in travel expenses, including 19 foreign
trips, more than $11,000 of wining and dining at some of the fanciest
restaurants in Ottawa, and, of course, he has a government chauffeur. <BR><BR>A
Commons committee investigating Radwanski is expected to call for his
resignation over his high-flying lifestyle on the public tab, and over
allegations he altered documents and lied to the committee. <BR><BR>DECREASED
EARNINGS <BR><BR>But Radwanski's huge tax delinquency, and subsequent agreements
with Revenue Canada to resolve it all, are bound to shift the growing
controversy to the circumstances surrounding his getting the plum posting in the
first place. <BR><BR>Documents show that Radwanski filed for personal bankruptcy
protection on Dec. 2, 1999, "primarily as a result of a decrease in earnings
from his consulting practice and non-filing of tax returns over a period of
years." <BR><BR>He reported his only assets were a $255,000 house in Toronto,
$3,000 in furniture, $4,000 in RRSPs, and a 1984 Peugeot worth $500. <BR><BR>On
the other side of the balance sheet, the Toronto Dominion Bank held a $205,000
mortgage on the house, and Revenue Canada was claiming "approximately $500,000"
in unpaid taxes. <BR><BR>Radwanski stated he was making about $11,000 a month
from consulting contracts with two clients, both of which were ending in March.
<BR><BR>There is no mention of an offer to become privacy commissioner anywhere
in those or subsequent insolvency documents. <BR><BR>At a meeting of creditors
on Jan. 18, Revenue Canada agreed to wipe out Radwanski's tax bills --
eventually listed as $557,436 -- for payment of $62,726. Radwanski got to keep
his house, and the government would subsequently agree, as part of his deal as
privacy commissioner, to give him weekly executive-class round-trip airfare
between Ottawa and Toronto so he could visit his home on weekends. <BR><BR>On
Feb. 29, a notice was issued that Radwanski's deal with the tax department would
be presented to a Superior Court judge on April 11 for approval. <BR><BR>'RAISED
CONCERNS' <BR><BR>But about the same time, Radwanski's name was apparently being
officially floated in Ottawa as the Liberal government's choice for privacy
commissioner. <BR><BR>Conservative Leader Peter MacKay, then his party's House
leader, later recalled in an interview that "people raised concerns then (in
February 2000), not just me," about the appointment reeking of patronage.
<BR><BR>Radwanski said yesterday as far as he was concerned, the insolvency
proceedings were over the day his deal with the taxman was approved in January
2000, and had nothing to do with discussions about his appointment. <BR><BR>On
March 24, at least a month after his nomination had been proposed to the House
leaders, Radwanski filed for a second bankruptcy protection, this one for a
company called 1131652 Ontario Inc., also known as Synergetics Consulting Group
Inc. <BR><BR>Like the first filing, this insolvency "was precipitated as a
result of certain tax liabilities" -- another $49,511 that Radwanski had failed
to pay to Revenue Canada. <BR><BR>On April 18, with Radwanski's corporate assets
listed as zero, Revenue Canada again agreed to wipe out the nearly $50,000 owing
in back-taxes -- this time for payment of only $5,000. <BR><BR>That deal was
sealed by the courts in June of that year. </FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>
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