The applicant sought to exclude evidence obtained during a Canada Revenue Agency audit of his company and subsequent search warrants, alleging breaches of sections 7 and 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The applicant contended that the CRA auditor's predominant purpose was to investigate his alleged criminal tax liability rather than conduct a civil compliance audit.
The court found that the audit remained a bona fide compliance audit until the auditor received answers to the first query on July 14, 2010, at which point the auditor's predominant purpose shifted to a penal investigation.
The court excluded evidence obtained through the second query but admitted evidence from the first query and the search warrant execution.
