Shane Nerscessian and his business partners Ameet Gajjar and Steve Black recognized the need for professional advice and founded the True North Disability Services Ltd. (TNDS) in Surrey, British Columbia, in 2014.  Their company is a leader in the industry with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, with dozens of testimonials posted on its website, as well as a loyal following on Google and Facebook. Their business model is dependent on a reasonable and agreed upon contingency fee of 20 per cent for its services, regardless of how much time is spent on a file to resolve administrative errors and make necessary adjustments. And there have always been plenty of those. On the other hand, the $100 fee cap, set to take effect on November 15, 2021, would quickly decimate their business, leaving hundreds of clients in the lurch.

Mr. Nercessian had invested too much in his company to let an incompetent and irresponsible government department take it all away from him. He had exposed the last scandal implicating Minister Lebouthillier, that denied the DTC to thousands of people living with type 1 diabetes, struggling to cover the cost of managing their blood sugar levels. Now, he would take on the CRA.

Mr. Nercessian sought to have the proposed regulations declared constitutionally invalid, since the jurisdiction to regulate professional fees for tax-related services by accounting and legal firms usually belonged to the provinces. But first, he appealed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, requesting an injunction against the CRA from imposing the controversial $100 fee.

The Crown’s case fell apart when the legal defence team admitted that there was no evidence, not a single document, to support its argument of excessive contingency fees as high as 40 per cent of the refund. That’s not to say it never happened. But no one was ever charged for stiffing the disabled. While the Crown argued that the fee cap was intended to stop criminal activity, there had never been any evidence of illegal activity since the CRA raided the offices of J & J Canadian Grants Company in September 2010. Nor had there been any reports of fraud by health practitioners or service providers, since MP Gallant introduced Bill C-462 in April 2012. 

During the two-day trial, the Crown tried to discredit my affidavit, ostensibly, because I was not an “expert” in this subject. Apparently, my record of filing successful appeals over two decades was not proof positive of CRA being “notorious for its poor administration of the DTC.”

Justice Harry J. Slade granted the injunction against the CRA. As far as he was concerned, TNDS would suffer substantial and irreparable losses, if the $100 fee was implemented. On the other hand, the government itself would not suffer any tangible harm. After all, the CRA waited more than five years before drafting the Regulations, “to prevent the ostensible ‘evil’ or protect the public from an ‘injurious or undesirable effect.’”

The decision also stopped the CRA in its tracks from imposing strict fee limits to lawyers, accountants, and anyone else assisting taxpayers when appealing a wrongful decision. 

In a radical about-face, the Agency immediately amended its proposal by limiting the $100 fee to the application process. Of course, the government should have known better than to interfere with the rights of Canadians with disabilities to access legal advice, when unjustly denied the DTC.

The following year, Mr. Nercessian was back to court arguing that the federal government did not have jurisdiction to regulate fee structures for businesses incorporated under provincial law. He was also challenging the Regulation on the basis that such a low fee is a breach of his charter rights since it would severely limit, and quite possibly eliminate access, to any meaningful assistance in the application process for the DTC.

Another favourable decision is critical for DTC consultants to maintain the status quo for thousands of Canadians with disabilities, who might otherwise be left out in the cold.