APPEAL I PAR T C -De cisi on under Appe al The de ci sion u nde r appeal is the minis try's reconsideration d e cision d ated F ebrua ry 19, 2014 that held that in ac corda n c e with section 1 O of the Employment and Assistance Act (EAA) and section 32 o f the Employment and Ass istance R egulat io n, t he appellant was inelig ible fo r f urther a ss istance unt il she c omplies wit h the directi o n to p r ovide the mini stry with a bank transaction recor d for deposits mad e to her acco unt. PAR T D -Rel eva nt Legi slat i on Employment and Assi st a nc e Act ( EA A) s e cti on 1 O Employment and Assistance Regulation section 32 (1) EMT003(10/06/0 1 )
P A R T E S u m m a r v o f F a c t s T h e i n f o r m a t i o n b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t t h e t i m e o f r e • B a n k s t a t e m e n t s f o r t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s b a n k a c a c c o u n t f o r t h e d a t e s J u n e 2 0 1 2 t o N o v e m b e n o t e s i n d i c a t i n g i f t h e t r a n s a c t i o n l i s t e d w a s f • A l e t t e r d a t e d J a n u a ry 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 a d d r e s s e d t o r e q u e s t s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e d e t a i l s o f a c c o u n t s p r o f i l e c o n f i r m i n g a l l o f t h e a p p e l l a n t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n w a s n e e d e d f o r t h e p u r p o s e s • A l e t t e r d a t e d D e c e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 3 a d d r e s s e d r e q u e s t s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e , " c o n f i r m a m u s t p r o v i d e c o n f i r m a t i o n o f w h e r e t h e m o n e t h e c h e q u e . " A s w e l l a s a n a l l a c c o u n t s p r o f i h e r b a n k . T h e l e t t e r r e a d t h a t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n e l i g i b i l i t y f o r f u r t h e r a s s i s t a n c e . • A n o t e d a t e d O c t 4 f r o m a r e a l t o r s t a t i n g , " r e n • A s c h o o l f o r m d a t e d N o v e m b e r 2 6 , 2 0 1 3 c o n s c h o o l . • A l e t t e r d a t e d N o v e m b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 3 a d d r e s s e d r e q u e s t s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e r e n t r e c e i d e t a i l s o f a n y d e p o s i t i n t o h e r a c c o u n t . T h e l e p u r p o s e s o f a u d i t i n g h e r e l i g i b i l i t y f o r f u r t h e r • A F o r t i s s t a t e m e n t , B C H y d r o s t a t e m e n t , a n d • A n o t i c e o f a s s e s s m e n t s t a t e m e n t f o r t h e a p p $ 1 1 , 2 4 9 . • T w o I C B C i n s u r a n c e s t a t e m e n t s b o t h i n t h e n • A l o a n a g r e e m e n t f r o m a c o m p u t e r c o m p a n y a p p e l l a n t ' s c o u s i n . • A c o p y o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s d r i v e r ' s l i c e n s e . • A l e t t e r d a t e d O c t o b e r 2 1 , 2 0 1 3 a d d r e s s e d t o r e q u e s t s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e i d e n t i f i c a t d a u g h t e r , b a n k s t a t e m e n t s f o r h e r a n d h e r d a r e g i s t r a t i o n f o r t h e t w o v e h i c l e s r e g i s t e r e d i n d a u g h t e r . T h e l e t t e r r e a d t h a t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n e l i g i b i l i t y f o r f u r t h e r a s s i s t a n c e . • A l e t t e r d a t e d J a n u a r y 2 3 , 2 0 1 4 h a n d w r i t t e n b t h a t s h e h a s b e e n v e r y s t r e s s e d b y t h e a u d i t d e t a i l s o f t h e d e p o s i t s m a d e t o h e r a c c o u n t b w a s o u t o f t o w n u n t i l t h e m i d d l e o f F e b r u a ry . o n M a r c h 1 , 2 0 1 4 . • A l e t t e r d a t e d N o v e m b e r 6 , 2 0 1 3 h a n d w r i t t e n t h a t t h e m a n s h e i s l i v i n g w i t h i s n o t h e r b o y f r • A s w o r n s t a t e m e n t d a t e d F e b r u a rv 5 , 2 0 1 4- b v E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )� ----� A P P E A L I c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n c l u d e d t h e f o l l o w i n g : c o u n t s h o w i n g a l l d e b i t s a n d c r e d i t s t o t h e r 2 0 1 3 . E a c h o f t h e s t a t e m e n t s h a s h a n d w r i t t e n o r t h e a p p e l l a n t o r h e r c o u s i n . t h e a p p e l l a n t f r o m t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r e a c h d e p o s i t m a d e t o h e r a c c o u n t a n d a n a l l  t ' s d e a l i n g s w i t h h e r b a n k . T h e l e t t e r r e a d t h a t o f a u d i t i n g h e r e l i g i b i l i t y f o r f u r t h e r a s s i s t a n c e . t o t h e a p p e l l a n t f r o m t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r t i o n o f a l l d e p o s i t s t o y o u r b a n k a c c o u n t . . . . . y o u y c a m e f r o m , i e , a c o p y o f a p a y s t u b o r a c o p y o f l e c o n f i r m i n g a l l o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s d e a l i n g s w i t h w a s n e e d e d f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f a u d i t i n g h e r t p a i d i n f u l l . " f i r m i n g t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s d a u g h t e r i s a t t e n d i n g t o t h e a p p e l l a n t f r o m t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r p t s , s t u d e n t i n f o r m a t i o n f o r h e r d a u g h t e r , a n d t t e r r e a d t h a t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n w a s n e e d e d f o r t h e a s s i s t a n c e . c a b l e T V s t a t e m e n t f o r t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s r e s i d e n c e . e l l a n t f o r t h e t a x y e a r 2 0 1 1 s t a t i n g a n i n c o m e o f a m e o f t h e a p p e l l a n t f o r t w o d i f f e r e n t c a r s . d a t e d S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2 i n t h e n a m e o f t h e t h e a p p e l l a n t f r o m t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r i o n , r e n t r e c e i p t s , p a y s t a t e m e n t s f o r h e r a n d h e r u g h t e r , 2 0 1 2 i n c o m e t a x c o n f i r m a t i o n , v e h i c l e t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s n a m e , s t u d e n t i n f o r m a t i o n f o r h e r w a s n e e d e d f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f a u d i t i n g h e r y t h e a p p e l l a n t t o t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r s t a t e s p r o c e s s a n d t h a t s h e i s u n a b l e t o p r o v i d e t h e e c a u s e t h e d e p o s i t s w e r e f o r h e r c o u s i n a n d h e S h e a d d s t h a t s h e w i l l b e m o v i n g t o a n e w h o u s e b y t h e a p p e l l a n t t o t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e l e t t e r s t a t e s i e n d b u t h e r c o u s i n . t h e a n n e l l a n t . I n t h e s t a t e m e n t t h e a p p e l l a n t
declares that she added her cou sin to her bank acco and that the attach ed l is t o f bank deposit amounts a b eh alf and th at the money was n o t hers. Th e bank account show a ll deposits, however t hey do not provide the so documented each d e p o si t with th e date and amount tha " A notice of assessment statement for the appel $9, 945. " A le tt e r dated De c ember 26, 2 013 h a ndwritten by the appel d e p o si ts in to t h e appellant' s b a n k a c count that w behal f. " A letter dated January 30, 2013 writt en by the appellant's uncle confirming that the app cousin lives with her. " A letter dated January 29 , 2013 written by the appellan cousin lives with her. • A re ques t for reconsi de r a tion letter unda ted w states tha t the appel lant l i ves with her c ousin reque s ted deposit detail s beca use her b ank At the hea ring t he appe lla nt told t he panel th a t she con th e depos its she m ade to her a ccount and s he w as of the deposit s for h e r. How ever, w h e n sh e att end ed t could not provide copies f or her. Thi s i s t h e re as on she went to a law de cla ra ti on to suppo r t her p ositi on that the no t ed depo w er e c omplete ly hi s. T he appellant told the panel tha t the reaso n s he let her cou he was un able to g et an ac count of h i s own. Sh e s aid how e ver t his made it d ifficult for him to ensure his po was working out o f tow n. T h e appellant submitted a lett e r at the hear i ng dated March 14, 2014 addr It r ead t hat the bank would provide her detailed copies of the deposits 2014. This letter was admitted as evidence as per t h The panel found that the evidence contained in the document is in support of evid before the ministry at the time of the reconsideration. The letter was accepted because it offers an updat e to the appellant's att empts to ob t a in details of the had no objections to the letter being accepted as evidence. The appellant told the panel that she should continue to be eligible because the deposits made to her acco u nt were not hers. She added that her cousin spent his mone his mon ey. At the hearing the ministry told the panel that the loss management and prevention department conducted a review of the appellant. Under EAA section 10 the ministry has the discretion to request any inf orm ati on required to complete the audit. The appellant was asked for standard confirmations needed to determine her eliaibilitv including ID, rent details, bank information, and familv status. The EMT003(10/06/01) APPEAL I unt to ensure her rent was pa id on tim e nd d a t e s w ere m a de on her cousin's stateme nt reads, "Bank statements from our u rce of all deposits . I have t w ere [my cou si n's]" lant for the tax year 2012 stating an incom e of lant's cousin stating that the ere i de n tified as his were i n fact ma de on h i s ellant's t ' s a unt c o nfir ming that the appe llant' s ritten b y the app e ll ant's advocate. The l etter a nd tha t t he a ppe l lant is u nab le to provi de th e t ol d h e r the in f ormation was unava ilabl e. tacted her bank by pho ne as k i ng for copies of told t hat it w as li kely the ban k could repr i nt copies he b ranch t he b an k tell er told h e r that they yer to swear a sta tu tory sits wer e made by her c o usin a nd the fund s sin depos it in to h e r a ccoun t w as becaus e he no rm ally used a ch equ e c ashing s ervice rt i on o f th e ren t was pai d each mon t h when h e ess ed to her from her bank. into her a ccoun t by May 5, e Empl oyment and Assistance Act sec t io n 22 ( 4 ) . ence tha t was de po sits made to her ac count. The ministr y y and that she d id not keep any of
APPEAL I ministry told the panel that generally recipients of assistance that are audited do not have difficulty obtaining copies of any deposits that were made to their account. The ministry told the panel that in the case of the appellant she has been on and off income assistance for 23 years and that she should have know that using her bank account to deposit another person's cheque could require a detailed explanation to the ministry in the future. The ministry concluded by telling the panel that since the appellant received conflicting answers from her bank when she requested the information she should have made further inquiries and pushed harder to get the deposit details. The panel finds as fact: • The appellant received a request for information from the ministry on October 21, 2013. • The appellant provided the ministry all the requested information except for details and supporting documents for a series of deposits made to her bank account. • The appellant provided the ministry with a sworn declaration stating that the deposits in question were made in her cousin's behalf and the funds were his not hers. • The appellant's bank has confirmed that they will provide her with the requested deposit details by May 5, 2014. EAAT003(10/06/01)
P A R T F R e a s o n s f o r P a n e l D e c i s i o n T h e i s s u e i n t h i s c a s e i s t h e r e a s o n a b l e n e s s o f t h e q u a l i f y f o r f u r t h e r a s s i s t a n c e u n t i l s h e p r o v i d e s d e t a h e r b a n k a c c o u n t . T h e m i n i s t r y f o u n d t h a t s h e h a d e x c e p t i o n o f t h e d e p o s i t d e t a i l s . T h e l e g i s l a t i o n s t a t e s : 1 0 ( 1 ) F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f ( a ) d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h o r h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e ( b ) d e t e r m i n i n g o r a u d a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u p p l e m ( c ) a s s e s s i n g e m p l o y a b p l a n , o r ( d ) a s s e s s i n g c o m p l i a n m i n i s t e r m a y d o o n e o ( e ) d i r e c t a p e r s o n r e f e t o s u p p l y t h e m i n i s t e r s p e c i f i e d b y t h e m i n i s t ( f ) s e e k v e r i f i c a t i o n o f r e f e r r e d t o i n p a r a g r a p ( g ) d i r e c t a p e r s o n r e f e t o s u p p l y v e r i f i c a t i o n o ( 2 ) T h e m i n i s t e r m a y d i r e c t a n a p p l i c a r e c e i v e d b y t h e m i n i s t e r i f t h a t I n f o r m i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e ( 3 ) S u b s e c t i o n ( 1 ) ( e ) t o ( g ) a p p l i e s w r e f e r r e d t o i n s u b s e c t i o n ( 1 ) ( c ) o r ( d ) ( 4 ) I f a n a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p i e n t f a l l s t m i n i s t e r m a y d e c l a r e t h e f a m i l y u n i t i n o r a s u p p l e m e n t f o r t h e p r e s c r i b e d p e r ( 5 ) I f a d e p e n d e n t y o u t h f a i l s t o c o m p m a y r e d u c e t h e a m o u n t o f i n c o m e a s s f a m i l y u n i t b y t h e p r e s c r i b e d a m o u n t f I t i s t h e m i n i s t r y ' s p o s i t i o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s n o t T h e m i n i s t r y m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n r e q u e s t e c o n t i n u e d a s s i s t a n c e a n d t h e a p p e l l a n t i s o b l i g a t e d I t i s t h e p o s i t i o n o f t h e a p p e l l a n t t h a t s h e h a s m a d e e v e r y t h i n g r e q u e s t e d h o w e v e r h e r b a n k t o l d h e r t h a a c c o u n t w e r e n o t a v a i l a b l e . T h e a p p e l l a n t a s s e r t s t h a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e s h e h a s p r o v i d e d a s w o r n s t a t e n o t h e r s . T h e p a n e l c o n s i d e r e d t h e e v i d e n c e p r e s e n t e d b o t h i R e g a r d i n g t h e s w o r n s t a t e m e n t d a t e d F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 r e a s o n a b l e i n f i n d i n g t h a t i t d i d n o t s u f f i c e t o f u l f i l l t h W h i l e t h e s w o r n s t a t e m e n t a s s e r t s t h a t t h e d e p o s i t s p r o v i d e t h e r e a u e s t e d d e t a i l , s o e c i f i c a l l v , " c o n f i r m a t i E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d o e s n o t i l e d b a n k t r a n s a c t i o n r e c o r d s f o r d e p o s i t s m a d e t o p r o v i d e d a l l t h e r e q u e s t e d i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h t h e e r a p e r s o n w a n t i n g t o a p p l y fo r I n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e i s e l i g i b l e t o a p p l y f o r i t , i t i n g e l i g i b i l i t y f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p e n t , i l i t y a n d s k i l l s f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f a n e m p l o y m e n t c e w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f a n e m p l o y m e n t p l a n , t h e r m o r e o f t h e f o l l o w i n g : r r e d t o i n p a r a g r a p h ( a ) , a n a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p i e n t w i t h i n fo r m a t i o n w i t h i n t h e t i m e a n d i n t h e m a n n e r e r ; a n y i n f o r m a t i o n s u p p l i e d t o t h e m i n i s t e r b y a p e r s o n h ( a ) , a n a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p i e n t ; r r e d t o i n p a r a g r a p h ( a ) , a n a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p i e n t f a n y i n f o r m a t i o n h e o r s h e s u p p l i e d t o t h e m i n i s t e r . n t o r a r e c i p i e n t t o s u p p l y v e r i f i c a t i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n a t i o n r e l a t e s t o t h e e l i g i b i l i t y o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t f o r o r a s u p p l e m e n t . i t h r e s p e c t t o a d e p e n d e n t y o u t h f o r a p u r p o s e . o c o m p l y w i t h a d i r e c t i o n u n d e r t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e e l i g i b l e f o r I n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e i o d . l y w i t h a d i r e c t i o n u n d e r t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e m i n i s t e r i s t a n c e o r h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e p r o v i d e d t o o r f o r t h e o r t h e p r e s c r i b e d p e r i o d . p r o v i d e d a l l t h e i n f o r m a t i o n r e q u e s t e d o f h e r . d i s r e q u i r e d t o e s t a b l i s h h e r e l i g i b i l i t y f o r t o p r o v i d e i t a s s t a t e d i n E A A S e c t i o n 1 0 . a l l r e a s o n a b l e e f f o r t s t o p r o v i d e t h e m i n i s t r y w i t h t t h e d o c u m e n t s d e t a i l i n g t h e d e p o s i t s t o h e r a t s h e s h o u l d b e f o u n d e l i g i b l e f o r c o n t i n u e d m e n t d e c l a r i n g t h a t t h e d e p o s i t s i n q u e s t i o n w e r e n t h e a p p e a l r e c o r d a n d a t t h e h e a r i n g . 0 1 4 t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y w a s e m i n i s t r y ' s r e q u e s t f o r d e t a i l s o f t h e d e p o s i t s . · w e r e m a d e o n b e h a l f o f h e r c o u s i n , i t d o e s n o t o n o f w h e r e t h e m o n e v c a m e f r o m , i e , a c o o v o f a
I APPEAi paystub or a copy of the cheque" as stated in the request. Regarding the appellant's argument that she should continue to be eligible for assistance because her sworn statement declares the deposits were not hers, the panel finds the ministry based its reconsideration decision on the fact that the information was not provided and it, therefore, was not able to complete the audit for eligibility. The panel cannot determine the reasonableness of the outcome of the ministry's audit because it had not rendered a decision due to the fact that the requested information was not provided. The reconsideration decision does not declare the appellant ineligible for assistance based on the funds belonging to her but rather it determines she has not fulfilled her requirements under EAA section 10. The panel considered the new evidence, the bank letter, provided by the appellant at the hearing. The letter from her bank states that her request for the deposit details is in process and will be completed by May 5, 2014. Although the panel accepts that the information is forthcoming, the panel cannot consider the requirement for the information as fulfilled since the request is still in progress. The panel finds that the ministry was reasonable to find that the appellant remains ineligible for further assistance until the requested information is provided in accordance with section 32 of the EAR. The panel finds that the ministry's reconsideration decision was reasonably supported by the evidence and confirms the ministry's decision. EAA T003(10/06/01)
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.