Sunday News Roundup 22.01.09: CPA dismissal lawsuit, Alta Energy, NB AG and more 

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TORONTO, Jan. 09, 2022 – As Canadians went into provincial lockdowns, the COVID-19 variant Omicron dominated the news, and sooner or later a chartered professional accountant was bound to get caught in the news cycle. Andrea Marlene Horvath, CPA, CGA, was terminated from her position last October by Ducks Unlimited Canada. According to the Vancouver Sun, Horvath did not comply with her employer’s vaccination policy. 

But Horvath has filed a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, noting she had been with the organization for 11 years, had worked from home 80 per cent of the time from about January 2015 until March 2020, and is seeking various damages including compensation equivalent to 13 months pay and benefits. And now, on to the rest of the odds and ends of news from the very human world of Canadian accounting. 

New Brunswick auditor: potential for bias

Is it ethical to promote a provincial comptroller to the position of provincial auditor general? Apparently so in New Brunswick, where five of the eight auditors general in the province's history were comptrollers first, according to the CBC. But New Brunswick’s new auditor general, Paul Martin, says he will recuse himself from those sticky ethical situations in his new position. 

That is not good enough for former auditor general Brent White, who really wants the practice stopped. We don’t have a horse in this race, of course, but after losing the infamous Grant Thornton case in the Supreme Court of Canada just a few months ago, in which the province failed to act quickly enough in a high-profile claim, one would think the provincial government would want to implement higher standards. 

Alta Energy: A few more perspectives on an historic GAAR case

We hope you read Allan Lanthier’s two-part series in Canadian Accountant this past week on the Alta Energy decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. If you’re looking for a few more opinions on the controversial 6-3 ruling, Julius Melnitzer in the Financial Post polled a few high-profile accounting personalities for their views. 

David Rotfleisch, who also writes for Canadian Accountant, weighed in, as did transfer pricing professional Steve Suarez, also a contributor to Canadian Accountant. But William Innes, described by FP as a veteran Toronto tax lawyer, had the most intriguing take: “The case illustrates that, with the departure of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and Justice Marshall Rothstein, there’s no judge on the court with a significant background in tax.” Ouch. 

Quick Hits

RSM Canada promotes six new partners across Canadian offices (Press Release)
Canada may have another unlikely ally in its electric vehicle tax-credit fight: Arizona (CBC)
Could a new tax on homes worth $1M and up help fix Canada's housing crisis? (CBC)
The tax figures and changes you need to know for 2022 (Financial Post)
With rebates for farmers, Ottawa is nudging the sector away from fossil fuels (Globe and Mail)

By Canadian Accountant staff.