OTTAWA — Porter Airlines’ CEO is fighting the CRA over a six-figure tax bill linked to an unsuccessful incursion into “high risk” trading in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic that cost him over $5.7 million.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada in March 2020, Porter’s top executive Michael Deluce saw opportunity. As economies suddenly shuttered and investors scrambled to grapple with the global pandemics, markets experienced some of the largest one-day swings in nearly four decades .

According to a document filed to the Tax Court of Canada, Deluce noticed market volatility and decided to liquidate an investment portfolio containing low-risk investments that would generate capital, but only in the long-term.

Instead, Deluce put the funds into a self-managed investing account a

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