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Federal Court - Reconsiderations. Sharma v. Canada (Revenue Agency)
In Sharma v. Canada (Revenue Agency) (Fed CA, 2020) the Federal Court of Appeal reviews the status of reconsiderations under Rule 397 of the Federal Court Rules:[1] Mr. Sharma appeals from a decision of the Federal Court, dated November 1, 2018, dismissing his motion to reconsider an Order dated August 28, 2018. In that Order, Justice Bell denied his request for an extension of time to apply for judicial review of a decision by the CRA.
[2] It is well established that a motion for reconsideration pursuant to Rule 397 of the Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106, calls for the exercise of judicial discretion: Ruffolo v. Fraser Valley Institution for Women, 2016 FCA 91, at paras. 7-8. Accordingly, absent an error on a question of law or an extricable legal principle, this Court will only intervene with the exercise of that discretion if a palpable and overriding error can be demonstrated. No such error has been made out in the case at bar.
[3] Rule 397 provides that a party may request that the Federal Court reconsider the terms of an order on the grounds that the order does not accord with any reasons given for it, or that a matter that should have been dealt with has been overlooked or accidentally omitted. It is clearly not meant to be an appeal in disguise, allowing a litigant to re-argue an issue a second time, in the hope that the Court will change its mind: Bell Helicopters Textron Canada Limitée v. Eurocopter, 2013 FCA 261, at para. 15.
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