OTTAWA — The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that a work by an international artist can be deemed to be of “national importance” to Canadian heritage. Heffel challenged the decision in federal court and won in June 2018, but the Attorney General of Canada appealed the ruling. In its decision the appeals court ruled the lower-court judge erred by not deferring to the review board’s “reasonable” interpretation that an object can be of “national importance” even if it or its creator have no direct connection to Canada. Several museums, who rely on similar criteria of “outstanding significance” and “national importance” to entice donations of artworks through tax credits, were granted intervenor status in the appeals case. In the March federal budget, the Liberal government moved to do away with the “national importance” requirement for donors to obtain these tax breaks.

Source: National Post April 17, 2019 16:53 UTC