CANADIAN CASES on EMPLOYMENT LAW Fourth Series/Quatri`Eme S´Erie Recueil De Jurisprudence Canadienne En Droit Du Travail
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CANADIAN CASES ON EMPLOYMENT LAW Fourth Series/Quatri`eme s´erie Recueil de jurisprudence canadienne en droit du travail VOLUME 10 (Cited 10 C.C.E.L. (4th)) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/REDACTEUR´ EN CHEF M. Norman Grosman, B.SC., LL.B. Grosman, Grosman & Gale LLP Toronto, Ontario ASSISTANT EDITORS/ADJOINTS A` LA REDACTION´ Robert Bonhomme, D.E.C., B.L.L. Michael J. Weiler, B.A., LL.B. Heenan Blaikie LLP Boughton Law Corporation Montr´eal, Qu´ebec Vancouver, British Columbia Malcolm J. MacKillop, B.A., LL.B. Matthew L.O. Certosimo, B.A.(HONS.), Shields O’Donnell MacKillop LLP LL.B. Toronto, Ontario Borden Ladner Gervais Toronto, Ontario Magali Cournoyer-Proulx, D.E.C., LL.B. Heenan Blaikie LLP Montr´eal, Qu´ebec CARSWELL EDITORIAL STAFF/REDACTION´ DE CARSWELL Cheryl L. McPherson, B.A.(HONS.) Director, Primary Content Operations / Directrice des activit´es li´ees au contenu principal Catherine Bennett, B.A., LL.B., LL.M. Product Development Manager Nicole Ross, B.A., LL.B. Andrea Andrulis, B.A., LL.B., LL.M. Supervisor, Legal Writing Acting Supervisor, Legal Writing Mike MacInnes, B.A.(HONS.), LL.B. Jocelyn Cleary, B.A.(HONS.), LL.B. Lead Legal Writer Senior Legal Writer Stephanie Hanna, B.A., M.A., LL.B. Lisa Rao, B.SC., LL.B. Senior Legal Writer Senior Legal Writer Amanda Stewart, B.A.(HONS.), LL.B. Martin-Fran¸cois Parent, LL.B., LL.M., Senior Legal Writer DEA (PARIS II) Bilingual Legal Writer Melissa Dubien Content Editor Torrance v. Canada (Attorney General) 169 [Indexed as: Torrance v. Canada (Attorney General)] Attorney General of Canada Appellant and Rodney Torrance Respondent Federal Court of Appeal Docket: A-514-12 2013 FCA 227 Marc Nadon, J.D. Denis Pelletier, Johanne Gauthier JJ.A. Heard: September 19, 2013 Judgment: September 27, 2013 Tax –––– General principles — Miscellaneous –––– Worker was bike courier who was rendered quadriplegic and did not work thereafter — Worker was de- nied disability pension as records indicated he had made sufficient CPP contri- butions in only two years from 1993 to 1998 — Worker had not filed tax returns for 1996, 1997, or 1998 — Department of Human Resources Development Can- ada (HRDC) acknowledged RT’s request to leave his file open and set no time limits for filing tax returns — Worker filed 1996 tax returns, and HRDC re- quested more information, without time limits — Later, HRDC sent letter set- ting 45-day deadline for financial information, but letter was not delivered due to error — HRDC denied worker’s application, and correspondence was re- turned — Worker showed sufficient contributions — Minister’s delegate refused to award pension to which he was otherwise entitled absent administrative er- rors — Worker’s application for judicial review granted and matter remitted for reconsideration — Trial judge found Minister’s delegate’s decision never specif- ically dealt with issue of misaddressed communications — Trial judge found worker’s culpability in not sending HRDC notice of his change of address was not determinative — Trial judge found that due to administrative error in trans- position of postal code, worker was denied opportunity to seek reconsideration and to remedy filing deficiencies, which resulted in denial of his opportunity for pension — Unreasonable administrative error had occurred — Attorney General appealed — Appeal allowed — Original application for judicial review dis- missed and judgment of federal court set aside — Trial judge properly identified reasonableness standard of review but did not properly apply it — Trial judge did not examine Minister’s decision and record, including detailed analysis in appeal book, with view to determining if Minister’s decision fell within range of acceptable outcomes — Trial judge erred in substituting his reasoning for Min- ister’s, and in effect applied correctness standard — Plan officials did not have complete picture of worker’s contributory history when they denied his claim, but no administrative error occurred — Worker did not follow up on his claim for seven years and as result, further delay in making decision to deny benefits 170 CANADIAN CASES ON EMPLOYMENT LAW 10 C.C.E.L. (4th) would not have changed outcome since worker was not attending to his claim — Plan officials felt sufficient time had elapsed to allow worker to file his income tax returns — When officials received medical information which confirmed that date of disability was outside his minimum qualifying period, they did not require any further medical information to conclude that he was ineligible for benefits. Pensions –––– Federal and provincial pension plans — Federal pension plans — Canada Pension Plan benefits — Disability pension — Miscellane- ous –––– Worker was bike courier who was rendered quadriplegic and did not work thereafter — Worker was denied disability pension as records indicated he had made sufficient CPP contributions in only two years from 1993 to 1998 — Worker had not filed tax returns for 1996, 1997, or 1998 — Department of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) acknowledged RT’s request to leave his file open and set no time limits for filing tax returns — Worker filed 1996 tax returns, and HRDC requested more information, without time limits — Later, HRDC sent letter setting 45-day deadline for financial information, but letter was not delivered due to error — HRDC denied worker’s application, and correspondence was returned — Worker showed sufficient contributions — Minister’s delegate refused to award pension to which he was otherwise entitled absent administrative errors — Worker’s application for judicial review granted and matter remitted for reconsideration — Trial judge found Minister’s dele- gate’s decision never specifically dealt with issue of misaddressed communica- tions — Trial judge found worker’s culpability in not sending HRDC notice of his change of address was not determinative — Trial judge found that due to administrative error in transposition of postal code, worker was denied opportu- nity to seek reconsideration and to remedy filing deficiencies, which resulted in denial of his opportunity for pension — Unreasonable administrative error had occurred — Attorney General appealed — Appeal allowed — Original applica- tion for judicial review dismissed and judgment of federal court set aside — Trial judge properly identified reasonableness standard of review but did not properly apply it — Trial judge did not examine Minister’s decision and record, including detailed analysis in appeal book, with view to determining if Min- ister’s decision fell within range of acceptable outcomes — Trial judge erred in substituting his reasoning for Minister’s, and in effect applied correctness stan- dard — Plan officials did not have complete picture of worker’s contributory history when they denied his claim, but no administrative error occurred — Worker did not follow up on his claim for seven years and as result, further delay in making decision to deny benefits would not have changed outcome since worker was not attending to his claim — Plan officials felt sufficient time had elapsed to allow worker to file his income tax returns — When officials re- ceived medical information which confirmed that date of disability was outside his minimum qualifying period, they did not require any further medical infor- mation to conclude that he was ineligible for benefits. Torrance v. Canada (Attorney General) 171 Pensions –––– Federal and provincial pension plans — Federal pension plans — Judicial review –––– Worker was bike courier who was rendered quadriplegic and did not work thereafter — Worker was denied disability pen- sion as records indicated he had made sufficient CPP contributions in only two years from 1993 to 1998 — Worker had not filed tax returns for 1996, 1997, or 1998 — Department of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) ac- knowledged RT’s request to leave his file open and set no time limits for filing tax returns — Worker filed 1996 tax returns, and HRDC requested more infor- mation, without time limits — Later, HRDC sent letter setting 45-day deadline for financial information, but letter was not delivered due to error — HRDC de- nied worker’s application, and correspondence was returned — Worker showed sufficient contributions — Minister’s delegate refused to award pension to which he was otherwise entitled absent administrative errors — Worker’s appli- cation for judicial review granted and matter remitted for reconsideration — Trial judge found Minister’s delegate’s decision never specifically dealt with issue of misaddressed communications — Trial judge found worker’s culpabil- ity in not sending HRDC notice of his change of address was not determina- tive — Trial judge found that due to administrative error in transposition of pos- tal code, worker was denied opportunity to seek reconsideration and to remedy filing deficiencies, which resulted in denial of his opportunity for pension — Unreasonable administrative error had occurred — Attorney General ap- pealed — Appeal allowed — Original application for judicial review dismissed and judgment of federal court set aside — Trial judge properly identified reason- ableness standard of review but did not properly apply it — Trial judge did not examine Minister’s decision and record, including detailed analysis in appeal book, with view to determining if Minister’s decision fell within range of ac- ceptable outcomes — Trial judge erred in substituting his reasoning for Min- ister’s, and in effect applied correctness standard — Plan officials did not have complete picture of worker’s contributory history when they denied his claim, but no administrative error occurred — Worker did not follow up on his claim for seven years and as result, further delay in making decision to deny benefits would not have changed outcome since worker was not attending to his claim — Plan officials felt sufficient time had elapsed to allow worker to file his in- come tax returns — When officials received medical information which con- firmed that date of disability was outside his minimum qualifying period, they did not require any further medical information to conclude that he was ineligi- ble for benefits. Cases considered by J.D. Denis Pelletier J.A.: Bartlett v.