Anti-abortion protester must pay taxes, N.B court rules
Last Updated: Friday, October 24, 2008 | 6:11 PM AT
CBC News
David Little believes it is his right not to pay taxes. (CBC)A man convicted last fall of not paying income tax because he refuses to be part of government funding for abortions has lost his appeal before the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench.
David Little, who now lives on Prince Edward Island, is a devout Roman Catholic and stopped filing tax returns and paying taxes years ago to protest against government-funded abortions.
Little represented himself in a Fredericton court on Friday where he argued his conviction last year on three counts of not paying his income taxes should be overturned because it violates his religious beliefs under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In his two-and-a-half hour submission before Judge Hugh McLellan, Little included quotes from the Bible and his strong belief that abortion is "an abomination."
Twice the judge interrupted, saying Little should stick to legal arguments, not moral, religious or political ones.
McLellan then ruled that despite Little's intense beliefs, he did not show any legal error by the judge who convicted him and dismissed the appeal.
When Little left the courtroom, he said he was not surprised by the ruling.
"The first time any court does something on such a precedent, it's of considerable importance. So we've always felt along the road it's going to end up in the Supreme Court," Little said.
Little said while he represented himself in court, he had pro bono help from a lawyer who believes in his cause. He did not identify the lawyer, saying only that he was from outside the country.
Little said he remains confident he will win his case, and that it will force the Canadian government to change its laws on abortion.
Even if he loses at Canada's top court, Little said he will not change his ways as long as the government funds abortions.
"I'm gonna be in jail until I rot, because I'm never gonna file again until the law's changed," Little said.
It has been the 64-year-old's goal from the mid-1990s to be charged with tax evasion to raise the profile of his cause.
Little has set up a website to raise money for his defence. He also moved his family to Alberton in western P.E.I. in May of this year because abortions are not performed in Island hospitals. Little will not say what his income is, but says he is supported by several wealthy benefactors.
