A self-proclaimed tax geek, Samuel's current research interests in tax focus on tax dispute resolution and the regulation of non-profit organizations and charities. Samuel is also a long-time advocate for trans people. He frequently presents his research on trans legal issues to members of the legal profession.
Samuel is thrilled to be joining uOttawa, which he describes as located in ‘Canada’s Tax Capital’. He has a passion for all aspects of tax law and policy, truly enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for these topics through teaching and even brings music and pop-culture references to the classroom. We hear he accepts special requests!
In his tax research, Samuel is currently studying taxpayer remedies in the Canadian tax system. He is also researching the modernization of non-profit and charity law in Canada. Samuel recently studied the use of remission orders as a tax debt relief vehicle for Canadian taxpayers, and disseminated that research widely, including at the 2019 Canadian Tax Foundation's annual conference and the 2019 University of Waterloo's Tax Policy Research Symposium.
Samuel's other main area of research focuses on trans legal issues. His research on the ethics of trans competent lawyering and judging, funded by the OBA Foundation Chief Justice of Ontario Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Research (2019–2020), was recently presented at the Criminal Law Association – Ontario's Spring Conference. Samuel is also researching and educating the legal profession about trans legal needs in British Columbia, funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia In March 2020, he completed a report for the Canadian Human Rights Commission on trans case law and legal scholarship in Canada from 1973 to 2019.
Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Samuel was a member of the Faculty of Law at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in British Columbia, where he received the Teaching Excellence Award for Upper Year Teaching from the TRU Student Society of Law Students for both the 2017–2018 and the 2019–2020 academic years.
Before academia, Samuel articled with the National Judicial Institute and clerked at the Tax Court of Canada. He then practiced as a tax lawyer with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal. He went on to establish his own law practice in tax, charity, non-profit, and LGBTQ law. Samuel is a member of both the Québec and Ontario Bars. He is a graduate of Concordia (BA), McGill (BCL/LLB and LLM) and Osgoode Hall (LLM Tax).
Professor Singer is teaching Basic Tax Law, Droit fiscal, and Business Organizations in the 2020–2021 academic year.
The Faculty of Law, Common Law Section is very happy that Samuel is joining our ranks.
"I am so excited to join the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law in the tax capital of Canada,” said Singer. “Despite these difficult times, Dean Dodek, staff, and faculty members have made me feel very welcome, even as I initially join the Faculty remotely from British Columbia. I look forward to meeting uOttawa students soon and convincing them to take tax law courses because all areas of law (and life) relate to tax in some way, and we all benefit from knowing more about tax law and policy."