Federal Court Decision #A-134-95 - THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA v. LOUIS, LE DUC

JUDGMENT OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

Date:
January 10, 1996

Docket:
A-134-95

Umpire's Decision:
CUB 26880

"TRANSLATION"

CORAM:

MARCEAU, J.A.
MacGUIGAN, J.A.
DÉCARY, J.A.

BETWEEN:

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA,

applicant,

- and -

LOUIS LE DUC,

respondent.

Hearing held at Montréal, Quebec on Wednesday, January 10, 1996.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Delivered from the bench at Montréal, Quebec,
on Wednesday, January 10, 1996)

MARCEAU, J.A.:

This application for judicial review must be allowed.

This Court, in Attorney General of Canada v. Stolniuk (unreported decision of September 28, 1994, file A-686-93), held that an umpire acting under the authority of the Unemployment Insurance Act could not render a decision such as the one at issue here. If the umpire can only confirm the conclusion of the Commission and of the Board of Referees, to the effect that, during a certain period when he was unemployed, the claimant was not available, the said umpire cannot at the same time grant the claimant, for this period, entitlement to benefits on the ground that he was not given prior notice of the consequences of his disentitlement.

The prior notice of which the umpire speaks here in support of his conclusion is the warning that the Commission may, and even in certain cases must, give a claimant to broaden his or her job search if he or she wishes to continue meeting the availability requirements of the Act. It is a notice that will be taken into consideration in determining whether the claimant remained available. It is not a notice of the consequences of his or her unavailability once established. These consequences are clear in the Act where availability is a prerequisite for entitlement to benefits. The Act, of course, must be applied as is and it is not up to either the Commission, or the Court, to alter its provisions either directly or indirectly.

The application will therefore be allowed, the impugned decision will be set aside and the matter will be referred back to the umpire for reconsideration and a decision that is consistent with these reasons.

(signed) Louis Marceau

J. A.