15 August 2008
CPR Sues for 128 Years of Taxes
Regina Saskatchewan - The Canadian Pacific Railway Company
is suing the Saskatchewan government for taxes it believes it's been wrongly paying - for the past 128 years.
A statement of claim filed in the Court of Queen's Bench in Regina this week alleges the company has been assessed some taxes from
which it should be exempt, which breaches an 1880 contract.
Statements of claim contain allegations that have not yet been proven in court.
This statement of claim does not include the dollar amount the company claims it's owed.
CP spokesman Mark Seland said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit because it's before the courts, but described it as "really just
a technical taxation matter".
He couldn't say whether the company has launched similar actions in other provinces.
By a contract dated 21 Oct 1880, Ottawa agreed that "Canadian Pacific Railway, and all stations and station grounds,
work shops, buildings, yards and other property, rolling stock, and appurtenances required and used for the construction and working
thereof and the capital stock of [CPRC], shall be forever free from taxation by the Dominion, or by any province hereafter to be
established", says the court document.
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