Federal Court Decision #A-42-90 - CHARTIER, EMILE, LAQUERRE, ROGER, LAFRENIERE, REJEAN, MORAND, LOUIS v. COMMISSION

JUDGMENT OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

Date:
September 13, 1990

Docket:
A-42-90

Umpire's Decision:
CUB 17581

"TRANSLATION"

CORAM :

PRATTE J
HUGESSEN J
MacGUIGAN J

BETWEEN :

ÉMILE CHARTIER
ROGER LAQUERRE
RÉJEAN LAFRENIÈRE
LOUIS MORAND,

applicants,

-and-

THE CANADA EMPLOYMENT AND IMMIGRATION
COMMISSION,

respondent,

-and-

THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA,

Mis en cause.

Hearing held at Montreal on Thursday, September 13, 1990.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Judgment delivered from the bench on
September 13, 1990)

PRATTE, J.:

The applicants are seeking review of a decision of an umpire reversing a decision of a board of referees and restoring the decisions of the Employment and Immigration Commission refusing to extend the appellants' time for appeal from other decisions of the Commission respecting vacation pay that they had received.

The decisions of the Commission refusing to extend time for appeal were made under section 79 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, which gives the Commission the discretionary power to extend time for appeal "for special reasons". Even if we assume that these decisions could be appealed, as was held in the Nixon ¹ case, nonetheless they were appeals from decisions made in the exercise of a discretionary power which appeals the board of referees could not allow unless it believed that the Commission had not exercised its discretion judicially, had considered irrelevant matters or had failed to consider relevant matters. The board of referees could not, as it did in this case, simply substitute its discretion for that of the Commission. For this reason, the umpire was correct in setting aside the decisions of the board of referees and restoring the decisions of the Commission.

"Louis Pratte"
JCA

¹ Nixon v. CEIC, A-649-86, December 14, 1987.