E-Commerce on Reserve: Opportunities, Challenges, and Taxation

Alexander E. Buchan

doi:10.54056/HYFU6845

Authors

Alexander E. Buchan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54056/HYFU6845

Keywords:

Business And Economics, Electronic commerce, Ethnic Interests, Income Tax Act-Canada, Income taxes, Indigenous peoples, Infrastructure, Native North Americans, Personal property, Privacy, Privacy Act-Canada, Reserves, Small claims courts, Tax exemptions, Taxation, First Nations, First Nations businesses, First Nations economic leadership, Indigenous

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the law relating to the taxation of income stemming from e-commerce2 on Indian3 reserves. The paper seeks to identify the opportunities and limitations for e-commerce on reserve, including the specific tax implications4 for bands, corporations, and individuals, and the practical barriers for Indigenous communities that wish to engage in e-commerce, such as infrastructure and capacity gaps.

References

Bastien Estate v. Canada, 2011 SCC 38 (CanLII), [2011] 2 SCR 710.

British Columbia (Assessor Of Area #25 Northwest/Prince Rupert) v. N & V Johnson Services Ltd., 1990 CanLII 240 (BC CA), 73 DLR (4th) 170, [1991] 1 WWR 527.

Canada v. Benoit, 2003 FCA 236 (CanLII).

Canada v. Folster, 1997 CanLII 6344 (FCA), [1997] 3 F.C. 269.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Coco Paving (1990) Inc. v. Ontario (Transportation), 2009 ONCA 503 (CanLII), 79 CLR (3d) 166.

Daniels v. Canada (Indian Affairs and Northern Development), 2016 SCC 12.

Derrickson v. Derrickson, [1986] 1 SCR 285, 1986 CanLII 56 (SCC).

Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, [1997] 3 SCR 1010.

Dickie v. The Queen, 2012 TCC 242 (CanLII).

Douez v. Facebook, Inc., 2017 SCC 33 (CanLII), [2017] 1 SCR 751.

Imperial Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Segundo Casteleiro Y Colmenares, [1967] SCR 443.

Kelly v. Canada, 2013 FCA 171 (CanLII)

Key Pile Camp (2008) Ltd. v. Donaghy, 2016 BCSC 2226 (CanLII).

Kinookimaw Beach Association v. Board of Review Commissioners, 1978 CanLII 1749 (SKQB).

Kinookimaw Beach Association v. Saskatchewan, 1979 CanLII 2198 (SK CA).

Mitchell v. MNR, [2001] 1 SCR 911.

Mitchell v. Peguis Indian Band, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 85, 1990 CanLII 117 (SCC).

Mohawk Council of Akwesasne v. Toews, 2012 FC 1442 (CanLII), [2012] FCJ No 1685 (QL).

Musqueam Indian Band v. Glass, [2000] 2 SCR 633, 2000 SCC 52 (CanLII).

Nowegijick v. The Queen, [1983] 1 SCR 29, 1983 CanLII 18 (SCC).

Pilfold Estate v. Canada, 2014 FCA 97 (CanLII).

Recalma v. Canada, [1998] 2 CTC 403, 158 DLR (4th) 59.

Reference re: Constitutional Questions Act, 1981 ABCA 316 (CanLII), 130 DLR (3d) 636, [1982] 1 WWR 302, 35 AR 412.

Robertson v. The Queen, 2010 TCC 552 (CanLII).

R v. Johnston, 1966 CanLII 341 (SKCA).

Sakitawak Development Corporation v. The Queen, 2008 TCC 529 (CanLII), [2009] 2 CTC 2463.

Southwind v. Canada, 1998 CanLII 7300 (FCA), 156 D.L.R. (4th) 87, 1998 CanLII 7621 (FCA).

Syrette v. Syrette, 2012 ONCA 693, 6 CBR (6th) 324.

Taylor’s Towing v. Intact Insurance Company, 2017 ONCA 992 (CanLII).

Vidéotron c Ville de Gatineau, 2017 QCCS 3571.

Williams v. Canada, [1992] 1 SCR 877, 1992 CanLII 98 (SCC).

Constitution Act, 1867 (UK), 30 & 31 Vict, c. 3, reprinted in RSC 1985, Appendix II, No 5.

Customs Act, RSC 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp).

Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, SO 2000, c .17.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSBC 1996, c. 165.

First Nations Fiscal Management Act, SC 2005, c. 9.

Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp).

Indian Act, RSC 1985, c I-5.

Nisga’a Final Agreement Act, SC 2000, c 7.

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c-5.

Saskatchewan, The Education and Health Tax Act, R.S.S. 1965, c. 66.

Saskatchewan, The Electronic Information and Documents Act, 2000, SS 2000, c. E-7.22.

Saskatchewan, The Income Tax Act, RSS 1978, c. I-2.

Saskatchewan, Provincial Sales Tax Act, RSS 1978, c P-34.1.

Anderson, Robert B., Dana, Leo Paul, and Dana, Teresa E. (2006). “Indigenous Land Rights, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development in Canada: ‘Opting-in’ to the Global Economy”, Journal of World Business, 41: 45–55.

Beaton, Briand, and Campbell, Peter. (2014). “Settler Colonialism and First Nations e-Communities in Northwestern Ontario”, The Journal of Community Informatics, 10(2).

Beaton, Brian, Burnard, Terence, Linden, Adi, and O’Donnell, Susan. (2015). “Keewaytinook Mobile: An Indigenous Community-Owned Mobile Phone Service in Northern Canada”, Indigenous People and Mobile Technologies (pp. 109–124). Sydney: Routledge.

Bennett, Colin J., Parsons, Christopher A., and Molnar, Adam. (2014). “Real and Substantial Connections: Enforcing Canadian Privacy Laws Against American Social Networking Companies”, Journal of Law, Information & Science, 23(1): 50.

Bickis, Ian. (2018, 3 January). “Indigenous Urban Business Initiatives Growing as Demographics Shift”, Building magazine, online: https://www.building.ca/indigenous-urban-business-initiatives-growing-demographics-shift/.

Blood Tribe, Trespass Bylaw No. 03-2015. Online: http://bloodtribe.org/Administration/2315

Canada Revenue Agency. (n.d.). “List of Municipal or Public Bodies Performing a Function of Government in Canada Registered as Qualified Donees”. Online: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/other-organizations-that-issue-donation-receiptsqualified-donees/other-qualified-donees-listings/list-municipal-public-bodies-performing-afunction-government-canada-registered-qualified-donees.html.

Carpenter, Penny, Gibson, Kerri, Kakekaspan, Crystal, and O’Donnell, Susan. (2013). “How Women in Remote and Rural First Nation Communities Are Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)”, Journal of Rural and Community Development, 8(2): 79–97.

CRBE Group, Inc. (2017). U.S. Data Center Trends Report H1 2017, Research & Reports, online: https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/H1-2017-US-Data-Center-Trends.

CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission). (1999, 17 December). Public Notice, CRTC 1999-197.

CRTC. (2016, 21 December) Telecom Regulatory Policy, CRTC 2016-496.

CRTC. (2017, June 28). “Closing the Broadband Gap”, online: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/internet/internet.htm.

Durnik, Mitja. (2008). “Aboriginal Participation in Canadian Hydroelectric Development: Political Economy and Public Policy”, Anali Hrvatskog Politoloskog Drustva, 5(1): 367–395.

Hawk, Racheal M. White. (2015). “A New Formula for Tribal Internet Gaming”, Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science & Technology, 56(1): 47–78.

Hudson, Heather E. (2013). “Beyond Infrastructure: Broadband for Development in Remote and Indigenous Regions”, Journal of Rural and Community Development, 8(2): 44-61.

Merrigan, Lori. (2016, July 27). Letter from Lori Merrigan, Canada Revenue Agency Charities Directorate, to Ann Rénöus, Canada Revenue Agency Policy, Planning and Legislation Division (27 July 2016) Internal T.I. 2016-0645031I7 — 149(1)(c) — Indian Act Bands.

McMahon, Rob, O’Donnell, Susan, Smith, Richard, Walmark, Brian, and Beaton, Brian. (2011). “Digital Divides and the ‘First Mile’: Framing First Nations Broadband Development in Canada”, The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2(2): 4.

Natcher, David. (2016). “Normalizing Aboriginal Subsistence Economies in the Canadian North”, ReSDA Gap Analysis Report #10.

Papillon, Martin, and Rodon, Thierry. (2017). “Proponent-Indigenous Agreements and the Implementation of the Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent in Canada”, Environmental Impact Assessment Review 62: 216.

Parlee, Brenda L. (2015). “Avoiding the Resource Curse: Indigenous Communities and Canada’s Oil Sands”, World Developmentat, 74: 425–436.

SaskTel. (2017, February 6). “SaskTel Expands Data Centre Footprint in Regina”. Online: https://www.sasktel.com/about-us/news/2017/sasktel-expands-data-centre-footprint-in-regina.

Uniform Law Conference of Canada, Uniform Electronic Commerce Act, [UECA], August 1999.

Van Der Linde, Damon. (2017,7 January). “Web Empowers Aboriginal Entrepreneurs; Communities Discover Power of Internet to Overcome Barriers to Succeeding in Business” Financial Post.

Z. Song, X. Zhang, and C. Eriksson, “Data Centre Energy and Cost Saving Evaluation” (2015) 75 Energy Procedia 1255.