Dialogue
FROM: JUL-AUG 2003 ISSUE
Serving CGAs
On behalf of the Navy League of Canada, a non-profit organization that provides support to the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet program, I would like to congratulate you on the article about Lynda Murdoch-Furchner, CD, CIM, CGA ("Diversions," CGA Magazine, March-April 2003). Many officers in the Canadian Cadet Movement are involved in professional studies while serving the young men and women of Canada. I can personally attest to the work required, as I was a former commanding officer of a Sea Cadet Corps in Ontario while in the CGA program. It is no small feat to balance employment, studies and cadet life all at once.
The Navy League has also had the good fortune of having CGA students volunteer as treasurers and bookkeepers for various divisions and branches. In fact, CGA-B.C. supplied the B.C. Mainland Division with at least five volunteers to help with accounting duties.
We are grateful and thank you for highlighting one of the many dedicated officers in the Canadian Cadet Movement.
Albert Foster, CD, ACIS, P.Adm., CGA
National Treasurer, Navy League
Maple Ridge, B.C.
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Natural Health
Having recently found your article "An Unhealthy Decision" ("Tax Forum," CGA Magazine, September-October 2002) on the Internet, and the manner in which you dealt with my husband's Tax Court judgment (Michael Melnychuk v. The Queen), I'd like to make some comments. When the CCRA denied the use of vitamin and supplement receipts in my husband's 1999 income tax return, we felt he was being treated unfairly, considering he was looking after his health, and felt he should have had tax relief for this effort. Following coaching from a tax specialist (legal counsel), I represented my husband at the Tax Court of Canada; however, the case was dismissed.
Executive members of Citizens for Choice in Health Care (CCHC) in Alberta were in the court room at the time of our hearing on January 7, 2002. They persuaded me to become the president of this organization last December. Since December 2002, we have met with our Member of Parliament, Deborah Grey, who strongly recommended we send a petition to the House of Commons, asking that paragraph 118.2(2)(n) of the Income Tax Act be modified to include vitamins and supplements as a medical expense on individual tax returns, and that they be GST free.
In mid-February 2003, CCHC sent petitions across Canada, asking for support. Deborah Grey has consented to present these petitions to the House of Commons as soon as we have accumulated a good batch. Our ambition is to collect 100,000 signatures across Canada. In addition, one of our executive has prepared a critique on the Natural Health Products Regulations, and a copy of the critique has been mailed to every Member of Parliament and the Prime Minister.
Stella Melnychuk
President, Citizens for Choice in Health Care
Edmonton
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