A federal court judge has rebuked François-Philippe Champagne for failing to comply with a court order in a high-profile tax dispute involving a Jewish charity, raising concerns about transparency within the federal government and the Canada Revenue Agency.In a ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal Justice David Stratas said the minister’s office and senior agency officials did not follow a 2025 order requiring the disclosure of internal emails and memos on the revocation of charitable status for the Jewish National Fund.“Orders of the Court must be obeyed,” Stratas wrote, directing that officials “must conduct a further search for certain documents” and marking the filing as urgent.Blacklock's Reporter said the Jewish National Fund, which had held charitable status in Canada for 57 years, lost that designation in 2024 after auditors raised concerns about record-keeping in Hebrew and questioned whether the organization maintained sufficient control over funds sent to Israel.Lawyers for the charity argued the decision was influenced by political pressure, a claim that prompted the original disclosure order issued June 10, 2025 by Justice Elizabeth Walker.“In its written representations and affidavits, the National Fund sets out examples of public and media pressure on the Canada Revenue Agency,” Walker wrote at the time, citing petitions, emails, press releases and other commentary reflected in internal communications.While the agency has already produced thousands of pages of records, the court found key documents held by the minister’s office, the commissioner of revenue and senior executives were not included..“Denying parties search and production orders can keep maladministration hidden and unexposed,” Stratas wrote, adding it was “plausible” that additional relevant records exist within those offices.The court also referenced allegations from the Jewish National Fund that the agency faced sustained advocacy efforts seeking to revoke its status “because it is Jewish,” and that the minister may have “succumbed to a weighty and illegitimate pressure campaign.”Complicating matters further, an internal January 14, 2025 report by the Canada Revenue Agency acknowledged the presence of “unconscious biases” in its auditing processes. The report found inconsistencies in documentation and a lack of clearly defined standards guiding compliance decisions.It also noted a sharp rise in charity audits, increasing from 142 annually in 2021 to 222 in recent years — a 56% jump — without providing a clear explanation for the surge.
