News

By Patrick B. Craine

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, April 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Fredericton pro-life man was jailed for 66 days Thursday over his refusal to file tax returns due to tax-funded abortion in Canada.

“I don't want to co-operate with an entity that takes my money and pays gynecological assassins to kill my brothers and sisters,” said David Little, 65, in an interview with the Canadian Press.  “I'm prepared to die in jail, if necessary. I can no longer cope with the hypocrisy of praying for life … and paying for death.”

Little, who has refused to file tax returns since 2000, was ordered to file for 2000-2002 by Revenue Canada in 2003, and was then charged in 2005 for his failure to comply.  He has argued that the Income Tax Act violates his freedom of conscience and religion by requiring him to fund a morally evil act.

Provincial court Chief Judge Leslie Jackson convicted him in 2007 and ordered him to pay fines of $3,000.  Refusing to pay the fine, Little appealed to the NB Court of Queen's Bench in 2008.

After losing that bid, he sought to bring his case to the NB Court of Appeal, but his request was denied in August.  Then he filed a petition with the Supreme Court in October, which was denied in January, leaving him no other option for appeal.

At sentencing yesterday, Little, who represents himself, told Judge Jackson that he will not file a return until tax-funded abortion ends, and that he will not pay the fines.

“I have said from the beginning I will never pay,” he said, according to the Daily Gleaner.  “Let us not waste time any more. … Put me in jail.”

Little was joined in court by his wife and son, as well as Bishop Faber MacDonald, emeritus bishop of Saint John, who has been a strong supporter of his cause.

Bishop MacDonald told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that, while the Church doesn't approve of breaking the law, Little should be seen as a conscientious objector to an unjust law.

The bishop insisted that “there's a need for a law” restricting abortion in Canada and suggested that Little's 66 days in jail “may give this country time to think and reevaluate our position.”

“There's an acute need to motivate and to move people to make a judgment on the facts of abortion,” he added.

The bishop told reporters yesterday that “the real issue is the murder of unborn babies … It's a good cause.”  He suggested that other Catholics should follow Little's example, but admitted that he files his own returns.

Mary Ellen Douglas, national organizer of Campaign Life Coalition, said that CLC has not promoted the strategy of refusing to file tax returns because it has been unsuccessful in the past.  She pointed out that the first Canadian to endure jail time over his refusal to pay taxes was former Manitoba cabinet minister and renowned pro-life hero Joe Borowski.

Borowski began by refusing to pay Medicare premiums, but ceased filing tax returns in 1972.  On May 4, 1973 he declared in the Manitoba legislature, while serving as an MLA, that he would no longer pay tax due to tax-funded abortions, even if it meant going to jail.

For this decision, he was hounded ceaselessly by Revenue Canada and faced severe penalties.  They charged him deliberately inflated amounts, and garnished his income up to 50%.  Borowski's first of four stints in jail began with 25 days in 1975, which he chose to serve rather than paying fines.

In 1978, Revenue Canada put a lien on his property, even though it belonged to his wife and daughters, and they seized his new car.  He was convicted of assault in 1978 after removing government agents from his health food store, and given 50 hours of community service.  In 1979, he was jailed for over three months for his continued refusal to pay taxes.

Borowski received Canada-wide fame in 1981 as a result of his dangerous 80-day hunger strike and a national fundraising campaign for a major court challenge of the law permitting abortion. The hunger strike affected Borowski's health for the rest of his life.

The historic court challenge against Trudeau's 1969 abortion law spanned the bulk of the 1980s.  Borowski was forced to fight his way to the Supreme Court on various issues surrounding the case, and, in 1989, it was declared moot by the Supreme Court following their 1988 Morgentaler decision, which struck down Canada's existing abortion law.

“Everybody objects to their taxes going towards the killing of unborn children and it's just one of the galling realities of the whole business,” said Douglas.  “But it doesn't seem like it can be successful unless every pro-lifer in the country stops paying their taxes, and I don't think you can get people to do that.”

Little's next court date is set for August 10th, when he must answer a new charge for failing to comply with a judge's order to file his returns.  He could also face action for failing to file from 2003 to the present, though the federal prosecutor said it was up to Revenue Canada whether they would move forward on those years.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Canada: Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal over Withholding Abortion-Funding Taxes
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10011409.html

Court Rules Canadians May not Refuse to File Tax Returns Because of Government Funded Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082407.html