Taxpayers stung by new capital gains rules never passed into law by Parliament will have no recourse but the courts, according to records of the Parliamentary Law Clerk. The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday warned effective March 3 it will begin collecting interest on unpaid capital gains taxes under amendments never passed into law.

“It is up to the courts to determine whether state authorities or the public have complied with the legislation as it exists,” Philippe Dufresne, then-Law Clerk to the Commons, testified at a 2021 parliamentary hearing. “If a concern to that effect were to be raised before the courts, the courts would have to address that issue.”

“What happens if the governmen