When I was home, not in Ottawa, it was a regular Friday night occurrence. The doorbell rang, the dog barked and there were two plainclothes Mounties on my porch. One had a black hard-sided briefcase in his hand. Actually it was handcuffed to his hand.

The cops visually identified me, then unlocked the cuffs and gave me the case. In it were my ministerial briefing books and hundreds of pages of letters and orders for my weekend signature. As the federal Minister of National Revenue I was not all that powerful in the grand scheme of things, but I knew the strokes of my pen could be like daggers in the lives of citizens.

So, I didn’t just sign where the deputy minister and his bureaucrats had indicated. I read them all, and the background notes. In one instance I was guided to sign an order to seize a fleet of taxicabs in Victoria because the cab company owner couldn’t pay his tax bill. “So,” I asked the deputy, “if we take the guy’s cars, how’s he supposed to pay us? Are we now in the used car business?”

So I didn’t sign. He didn’t lose his cars, and probably never knew it was about to happen.

Shortly after voters decided I should once again be a private citizen. Irvin Leroux got into a pissing match with my old department. In 1996 a CRA auditor took personal documents, which were lost, but not before Leroux (erroneously, as it turned out) was told he owed $1 million. At the time he had a renown RV park, nice house and an 11-lot subdivision worth, he told me Friday, about $4.5 million.

He went to Tax Court, and then settled the case. The million-dollar bill was turned into a credit of $24,000. But the victory was hollow. The intervening years were not kind. In pursuing the fight, he lost everything – land, assets, house, savings. The government said he would have to sue to get any restitution, which Irvin did. Six years later he received his day in court – 14 of them, actually – before a judge in his town of Prince George. And he won. Sort of.

The judge ruled that Leroux was owed a ‘duty of care; by the CRA and its careless auditors. This is a big deal. It now means anyone who has been victimized by the tax cops and collectors has the legal right to sue for damages due to negligence, because of a lack of duty of care.

Here is Leroux telling his own story.

“Financially, we’re devastated,” Irvin told me Friday when I asked what he and Jill were doing now. “I’m 70 years old now, living off a damn puny old age pension and renting in Prince George. What happened to me was an act of terror – it destroyed my life and my business. Every day I am living the lifestyle of someone who never worked hard, instead of a business guy who once had built up millions. My life has been destroyed by an abusive process, and they need to be held accountable.”

I also asked him what advice he had for anyone who feels they been unfairly targeted or penalized by Canada Revenue Agency.

“First, don’t ever let them touch your documents, or remove them. Copies only. Itemize everything. Second, cooperate and pay what you owe but if you don’t agree with an audit, then go to the team leader and ask for a review. Then hire a good lawyer, and go directly to Tax Court because if you don’t they’ll delay for years, and keep adding on penalties.”

Despite winning a landmark case that could enhance taxpayers’ rights forever, Irvin Leroux is a sad and broken man. Lonely, too. The help he received from a citizens’ rights organization has ended, and his lawyer retired.

“Nobody wants to take this revenue agency on because they don’t want this out-of-control rogue organization looking into their own closet for skeletons, and then nailing their ass. Like mine was.”

By the way, the CRA is now suing Leroux for court costs. More David vs Goliath. To fight it, Irvin has to buy a transcript of his trial. That costs $15,500, and he doesn’t have it. Or a new lawyer, for that matter.

So he’s crowd funding. If you want to help the guy a little, go here. If you’re a tax lawyer, I hear Prince George is gorgeous this time of year. And bring a slingshot.