From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency claims it’s targeting tax evaders but is ‘going   
   after’ refugees: NDP MP Jenny Kwan :CRA SOTW   
        
   The private group that sponsored both families has raised concerns about the   
   way the tax agency dealt with these refugees, which led to one family having   
   its benefits halted.   
      
   News 07:00 AM by Teresa Wright The Canadian Press   
      
   OTTAWA — A family of Syrian refugees in British Columbia got a tax bill for   
   $27,000 after the Canada Revenue Agency asked the parents to prove their   
   children live with them in Canada — by getting a letter from their school in   
   July.   
      
   The private group that sponsored both families has raised concerns about the   
   way the tax agency dealt with these refugees, which led to one family having   
   its benefits halted and a government demand that they repay money they'd   
   already received.   
      
   Leona Etmanski of the refugee support committee at St. Philip's Anglican   
   Church in Victoria, B.C., says the refugees were asked to prove their children   
   were still living and attending school in Canada, but the documentation they   
   had to produce was    
   difficult for them to gather.   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) officials told them to provide a letter from their   
   children's school verifying the children were enrolled, but one of the   
   families was asked for this information when school officials were off work   
   for the summer. They were    
   also asked for a letter from their landlords, but due to B.C.'s overheated   
   housing market, the families had moved and tracking down their original   
   landlords for paperwork was challenging.   
      
   When the church settlement agency, which is partially funded by the federal   
   government, asked if its members could provide confirmation of the families'   
   ongoing presence in Canada instead, the CRA said no, Etmanski says.   
      
   "I think there could have been other ways for them to gather the information,"   
   she said in an interview Monday. "Could not the settlement agency be the   
   guarantor, because they are the settlement worker from the day they arrived in   
   Canada?" she asked. "Or    
   could not a letter from the sponsorship committee be sufficient to guarantee   
   that they verify that this family has indeed stayed in Canada with their   
   children? There must be better ways, other than gathering information from   
   landlords and school    
   principals, specifically in the summer months."   
      
   Etmanski also wonders why both of the refugee families that her group has   
   sponsored ended up with audits of their Canada Child Benefit payments and   
   whether this means other refugee newcomers to Canada are also being audited.   
      
   "What are the odds — the two families that our committee has sponsored get   
   the audit letter?"   
      
   NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan brought the issue to the floor of the House   
   of Commons, raising concern about the CRA targeting refugees rather than   
   focusing on "fat cat CEOs" and corporate tax-avoidance schemes.   
      
   "It's very alarming that CRA is going after these refugee families," she said   
   in an interview. "The government keeps saying that they put $1 billion into   
   going after people who evade paying their taxes and so on — is this what   
   they're doing with their    
   billion dollars?"   
      
   The CRA denies any suggestion it is targeting refugees with audits.   
      
   The agency promotes awareness of the Canada Child Benefit to newcomers and is   
   part of a multi-departmental effort to provide information to refugees on tax   
   filing and benefit entitlements when they arrive in Canada, said Emilie   
   Gagnon, press secretary    
   for National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier.   
      
   "Let me be clear, the CRA does not target refugees nor any other subset of the   
   Canadian population with their benefit review process," said Gagnon.   
      
   "The CRA works closely with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to   
   ensure that all benefit related questions are answered and also aims to   
   quickly resolve any problematic cases that arise."   
      
   But Etmanski believes the tax agency should change its policies on how it   
   deals with refugees, given their language barriers and lack of knowledge about   
   how to handle Canadian bureaucracy.   
      
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