NSIRA REVIEW OF THE CRA IS NOT ENOUGH

(Mar 14, 2023 – Toronto) 

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and leading community organizations across Canada have been calling for the suspension of the Review and Analysis Division (RAD) at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), pending a review of systemic racism and Islamophobia at the for two years. Today, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) announced a fulsome review on CRA’s unfair audit practices.

We do not accept calling for yet another review as a solution into systemic racism at the CRA. The RAD remains operational in the interim.

After the publication of a joint report in March of 2021 by NCCM and the Institute of Islamic Studies at U of T, and months of community advocacy, the government promised a review into the systemic problem at the National Summit on Islamophobia in July of 2021.

However, the promise by Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier to conduct a meaningful review of systemic racism and bias at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) faced barriers. In November of 2022, at the Senate Committee on Human Rights, the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman, Mr. François Boileau made it clear that he is facing significant barriers in accessing the necessary documentation and information from the CRA for a meaningful review to take place.

“We have made it clear to all parties involved since day one that the Review and Analysis Division should be suspended pending a review of systemic racism and Islamophobia at the CRA. We have already waited for two years for an ill-conceived review where the Taxpayers Ombudsman was not given the access he needed to complete the review. Now we are expected to wait up to another two years as NSIRA completes its review of CRA’s unfair audit practices,” said Dr. Nadia Hasan, COO of NCCM and co-author of the joint report. “We can no longer wait as these unfair practices continue.”

Our community has long asked for a thorough review of the agency’s Risk-based Assessment model —and its unfair targeting of Muslim charities across Canada.

We ask that the Prime Minister suspend the CRA’s Review and Analysis Division (RAD) until this review is completed.