JEWISH NATIONAL FUND OF CANADA HAILS FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL DECISION

Minister, found to have not fully complied with prior Order requiring production of relevant documents

TORONTO, March 27, 2026 /CNW/ - In a significant ruling, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) has ordered federal Minister François-Philippe Champagne and his Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to comply with previous court orders. Having noted that, "At a more general level, if an administrative decision-maker and its staff… have participated in a cover-up, life-changing consequences - civil and criminal - will follow."

The Jewish National Fund of Canada (JNF) has been one of Canada's oldest and most-respected charities, building parks, planting trees, developing medical, cultural, and educational centres, and more, to benefit all residents in Israel. In August 2024, however, JNF had its charitable status summarily revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in the middle of ongoing court proceedings. JNF has appealed that decision, and in the context of that appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal has now ruled that CRA has not fully complied with a previous court order requiring the CRA to conduct a diligent search of its various departments and to produce relevant documents to the JNF.

On Thursday, a respected Federal Court of Appeal judge concluded that Mr. Champagne's department "has not fully complied" with an earlier court order. Justice David W. Stratas ordered the Minister and his officials to turn over key documents to JNF.

"For us, this represents a big victory," said Nathan Disenhouse, the national president of JNF. "We do not want long and protracted litigation with Minister Champagne and his officials. We simply want to get back to doing charitable work."

Key quotes cited in the strongly worded 20-page Federal Court of Appeal decision by Justice Stratas:

• "Denying parties search and production orders can keep maladministration hidden and unexposed, immunizing administrative decision-makers from meaningful review and accountability."
• "'L'etat, c'est moi' and 'trust us, we got it right' have no place in our democracy. In our system of governance, all holders of public power, even the most powerful of them--the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, Ministers, the Cabinet, Chief Justices and puisne judges, Deputy Ministers, and so on--must obey the law."
• "We insist that all who exercise public power--no matter how lofty, no matter how important--must be subject to meaningful and fully independent review and accountability." 

As such, Justice Stratas ordered the CRA to conduct a search of multiple CRA offices - and the Minister's Office - for any documents relevant to JNF's case, and its allegation that the Minister was biased against the Jewish charity. 

"We didn't want to have to take legal action, but we didn't have a choice. CRA officials were not treating us fairly," said Disenhouse. "They now have four weeks to comply with the Federal Court of Appeal order - or they may face the types of sanctions presaged by Justice Stratas. We intend to pursue that vigorously."

The decision and order of the FCA is here: https://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/item/521814/index.do

SOURCE Jewish National Fund of Canada Inc.

For further comment contact: Nathan Disenhouse, [email protected]