Date: 20010124
Docket: A-397-99
CORAM: STRAYER J.A.
NOËL J.A.
EVANS J.A.
BETWEEN:
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Applicant
- and -
JULIA HERRERA
Respondent
Heard at Toronto, Ontario, Tuesday, January 23, 2001
Judgment delivered from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario,
on Tuesday, January 23, 2001
| REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: EVANS J.A. |
Date: 20010124
Docket: A-397-99
CORAM: STRAYER J.A.
NOËL J.A.
EVANS J.A.
BETWEEN:
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Applicant
- and -
JULIA HERRERA
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Delivered from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario
on Tuesday, January 23, 2001)
EVANS J.A.
| _. This is an application for judicial review brought by the Attorney General requesting the Court to set aside as erroneous in law a decision of the Umpire dated April 28, 1999. In this decision, the Umpire had set aside a decision of the board of referees, dated October 16, 1997, dismissing the respondent's appeal from the Commission's decision that the respondent was disqualified under subparagraph 27(1)(d)(i) of the Employment Insurance Act, S.C. 1996, c. 23, from receiving benefits for 6 weeks, because she had failed to attend an interview that the Commission had directed her to attend. |
| _. The respondent was given notice of this application, but did not file any materials in response, and did not attend the hearing |
| _. We are of the view that the Umpire was correct to conclude that the board of referees' finding that, on the balance of probabilities, the respondent received the notice of the information session that the Commission had scheduled her to attend on July 15, 1997, was made without regard to the material before it. |
| _. The Commission produced no evidence that it had mailed the notice and the board made no adverse finding of credibility against the respondent, who had maintained throughout that she had not received this or an earlier notice from the Commission mailed to her at the same address. Although she testified to having experienced difficulty in receiving mail at this address, she also admitted that she had received other communications from the Commission at this address. |
| _. The Commission only produced a copy of the notice, and an internal fax showing that the respondent, along with others, had been scheduled to attend the information session on July 15, 1997. We note, however, that the date on the notice appears to have had been altered from "270797" (a date after the session that the respondent had been scheduled to attend) to "070797". |
| _. It is incumbent on the Commission to prove that a claimant has been directed to attend an interview and, in our view, there was no evidence on which the board could conclude that the Commission had discharged this onus and that the respondent was therefore disqualified from the receipt of benefits. |
| _. We are also of the view that the Umpire erred in law when he found that the information session that the respondent had been scheduled to attend was not an "interview" within the meaning of paragraph 27(1)(d). Whatever the dictionary definition of the word, in subparagraph (i) Parliament has described an interview as including "an interview .. to provide information and instruction to help the claimant find employment...". The information session in question here clearly fell within this statutory definition. |
| _. For these reasons, the application will be dismissed. |
"John M. Evans"
J.A.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: A-397-99
| STYLE OF CAUSE: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA |
Applicant
- and -
JULIA HERRERA
Respondent
DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2001
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
| REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY: EVANS J.A. |
Delivered at Toronto, Ontario on Tuesday, January 23, 2001
APPEARANCES BY: Mr. Derek Edwards
For the Applicant
No one Appeared on Behalf of the Respondent
| SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Morris Rosenberg |
| Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
For the Applicant
Ms. Julia Herrera
3509 Cawthra Road
Mississauga, Ontario
L5A 2Y2
The Respondent on Her Own Behalf
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
Date: 20010124
Docket: A-397-99
BETWEEN:
| THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA |
Applicant
- and -
JULIA HERRERA
Respondent
| REASONS FOR JUDGMENT |