APPEAL I P ART C D ecision un d e r Appeal T h e decision under appeal is the Ministry of S ocial D e v elopment and So cial Innovatio n (ministry's) rec o n si deration decision d ated March 31, 2014 which held that the ap pell a nt is no t el i g i ble for Inc ome A ssi st an ce p u rsuant to secti on 1 O of the Employmen t and Assistance Act (EAA) becaus e he failed to suppl y the ministr y with d ocume n ta tio n as reques ted. S p ecifi c ally, th e ministry found the a ppellant in elig ible becau se h e d id not supply information and verification regarding his in come and rental acc o mmodations. Th e m in istry further held that the appellant's ineligibilit y will continue until he su p pl i e s the ministry with the requeste d info rm a t i on pursuant to section 3 2 of the Income and Assistance Regulation (EAR). PA RT D -Releva nt L egi slation Em ployme n t and Ass is ta nc e Act -EAA -sectio n 1 O Emp l oymen t an d Ass istance Regu lat i on -E AR -se ctio n 3 2 EAAT 003(10/06/01)
PART E-Summarv of Facts T he evidence before the ministry at reconsiderati o n included: • Application for Income Assi stance dated Dece mber acknowle dgi ng he u nderstood his rights, res ponsibi l third pa r ty verifi cation includin g authorizing the minis (CRA) and other agen c ie s; • 3 letters to the appellant from the ministry dated January 22, Febr requesting income, asset , and ren tal accommo dation determine his cont i n ui n g e l igibility for Income Assis tance. s u bmitting the informat ion, Feb ruar y 5th and 1 9 th re th e m in istry had s till not re ceived the requ es ted information Income Assistance paymen ts and closing its file effecti • Reque st for Recon sidera tion signed by the app ellant time is requ i re d to receiv e informat io n from R ev e nue m inist r y' s re q uests for infor m a ti o n "such as ban k statemen In its r econ sider ation summ ary an d a t the h eari ng the • The a ppe lla nt rec e i ve d Incom e Assi stance as a s ole the min istry init iated a file review du e t o an all e ga tion money he di d n ot declare to the mi n is tr y , an d liv ing in a is e m p loyed. • T el ephone r eco r ds date d J a nuar y 30, a nd Fe b r u a ry he b o r rows mo n ey t o p ay his r ent an d other ex pen ses; partn er i s a friend who used to live at his add r ess ; he has b ank state men ts c ost m one y to ob tain and he does n mu c h to suppl y the min istry with the req ues t e d i nf o rmati f or his busines s and lea ve In c o me A ssistance . The m on M ar ch 2 8, 2014 i n which it i nforme d the app ell an a n y add itional info rmati o n. • Hy the time of the reconsideration decisio n the minis a ppel lant's v ehic l es, b u t had not rece i v ed fina ncial s appellant, nor had i t re ceiv e d verification of the loans the appe friends. In response to a qu esti o n from the panel the ministry explained that although it had the appellant's authorization to access his CRA r ecords, CR A provides indica tes whe ther the cli ent filed tax retur ns, the amount of income earne paid. The ministry explaine d that this d ocument d oes nor does it contain T4 information showing who the income is from, or whet etc. Further, only the client can request detailed, suppl Summary. In response to another question from the panel, the ministry stated that while a client can authorize the ministry to assist in obtaining records, in the spirit of administrative fairness, it prefers for the EM T 00 3 ( 10/06/01) APPE AL I 23, 2 012, Parts 1 an d 2, sig n ed by the a ppellant i ties, and rep orting obligations and consented t o try to comp l e te checks with Canada Reven ue uary 5, and Feb ruary 19, 2014, info rmation pursuant to a ministry file revi e w to The first 2 le t te rs inc l uded deadlin es for specti v ely, and the Febr uary 19th letter indi cated a nd was terminating t he a ppellant's ve Mar ch 18, 2014; and on March 3, 2014 in w hich he states "more Canad a and other resources" and som e of the t s" cost mone y to ob t a in. ministry no t ed t he f ol lowi ng: recipient fro m J anuary 2013. In Janua ry 2014 , he was op eratin g a sma ll busin ess, ea rning c o mmon law r elation ship with a p a rtner wh o 2 1, 20 14 in which the ap pel lan t tol d t he m in i stry the p erson al le g e d t o be his common la w a jo in t l i n e of cre d it wi th t his person; his ot have mone y to spar e; an d he ha d n 't do n e on be cause h e w a s hopin g to get a con t r act inist r y n o te d a fu rthe r t e lep h o ne co nver sation t th a t he had until no on on M arc h 31 st to submit tr y had received documentation regarding the ta temen ts for 3 busi n esses belong ing to the llant had obtained from family and only a bare bones ''TX1 Summary" which d, and the amount of taxes n ot prov i d e a complete Notice of Assessment , her there is a capital gain, e mental information b eyond the T X 1
c l i e n t t o p r o v i d e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n . W h i l e i t d i d o f f e r t o t h e m i n i s t r y t o o b t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m o t h e r s . T h e a p p e l l a n t ' s e v i d e n c e a t t h e h e a r i n g i s s u m m a r i z • H e h a d r e q u e s t e d m o r e t i m e t o s u p p l y t h e m i n i s t r y • H e o p e r a t e s a s m a l l b u s i n e s s a n d a t t e m p t s t o g e t • H e p r o v i d e d r e n t a l a n d u t i l i t y i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e p a s h i s v e h i c l e s , a n d d e b t s t a t e m e n t s t h a t s h o w h i s m a x • H e h a s p r o v i d e d i n c o m e s t a t e m e n t s a l l a l o n g s h o w h i s $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 L i n e o f C r e d i t , a n d h e o w e s m a n y d e b t s • T h e m i n i s t r y r e q u e s t e d 4 y e a r s o f C R A r e c o r d s , a n d o l l a r s p e r p a g e . T h e y a l s o r e q u i r e h i m t o o b t a i n a s i g n a t u r e s t a m p o n a m i n i s t r y f o r m ; t h e l a s t t i m e h e F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 o r D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 ; • H e r e q u e s t e d h i s C R A i n f o r m a t i o n i n m i d A p r i l a n d t o 8 w e e k s ; • H e h a s n e v e r h a d a n a c c o u n t a t a c h e q u e c a s h i n g s t a t e d b y t h e m i n i s t r y ; a n d h e d o e s n o t l i v e w i t h a c o r e s i d e n c e b e c a u s e i t i s t o o e x p e n s i v e t o r e n t e l s e w h • W h e n t h e m i n i s t r y a s k e d f o r t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c o n s e n r e f u s e d t o a l l o w i t b e c a u s e " h a v i n g t h e m i n i s t r y t a l k t h e m a s a c u s t o m e r . " I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h s e c t i o n 2 2 ( 4 ) ( b ) o f t h e E A A , t h e r e l a t e t o t h e d o c u m e n t a t i o n t h e m i n i s t r y h a d r e q u e s 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 l e t t e r s t o t h e a p p e l l a n t . 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T h e p a n e l m a k e s t h e f o l l o w i n g f i n d i n g s o f f a c t : • T h e a p p e l l a n t h a d b e e n a s o l e r e c i p i e n t o f I n c o m e d i s c o n t i n u e d h i s p a y m e n t s i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 ( M a r c h • T h e m i n i s t r y i n i t i a t e d a r e v i e w o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s I n c • T h e m i n i s t r y s e n t t h e a p p e l l a n t 3 l e t t e r s b e t w e e n J i n c o m e , a s s e t , a n d r e n t a l a c c o m m o d a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o i n f o r m a t i o n w a s d u e . • T h e m i n i s t ry h a d 2 t e l e p h o n e d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h t h e t h e r e q u e s t e d i n f o r m a t i o n a n d c o m m u n i c a t e d t h a t t h a n y a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n . • T h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e d s o m e i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e m i t i m e h e a p p l i e d f o r I n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e , a s w e l l a s d o p r e v i o u s 9 0 d a y b a n k s t a t e m e n t s . 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E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L I a s s i s t t h e a p p e l l a n t , h e i n d i c a t e d h e d i d n o t w a n t e d a s f o l l o w s : w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n ; c u s t o m e r s b u t i s n o t r e c e i v i n g a n y i n c o m e f r o m i t ; t a l o n g w i t h v a l u a t i o n s a n d r e g i s t r a t i o n p a p e r s f o r e d o u t c r e d i t c a r d s ; i n g t h a t h e h a s n o i n c o m e ; h e h a s n o r o o m l e f t i n ; d 4 y e a r s o f b a n k s t a t e m e n t s w h i c h c o s t 2 b a n k s t a t e m e n t e v e r y 9 0 d a y s w i t h t h e b a n k ' s g a v e t h e m i n i s t r y h i s b a n k s t a t e m e n t s w a s i s s t i l l w a i t i n g f o r i t ; h e w a s t o l d i t c o u l d t a k e u p p l a c e , o r a j o i n t s a v i n g s a c c o u n t w i t h a n y o n e a s m m o n l a w p a r t n e r b u t s t a y s a t a f r i e n d ' s f o r m e r e r e ; a n d t t o c a l l h i s p o t e n t i a l c u s t o m e r f o r i n f o r m a t i o n , h e t o t h e m w o u l d r u i n t h e p r o s p e c t o f e v e r g e t t i n g p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s o r a l s u b m i s s i o n s t e d i n i t s J a n u a r y 2 2 , F e b r u a r y 5 a n d F e b r u a r y e a d m i t s a s e v i d e n c e t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s o r a l r e c o r d s t h a t w e r e b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t A s s i s t a n c e s i n c e J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 a n d t h e m i n i s t r y c h e q u e i s s u e ) . o m e A s s i s t a n c e f i l e i n J a n u a r y 2 0 1 4 . a n u a r y 2 2 a n d F e b r u a r y 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 r e q u e s t i n g n , a n d e a c h l e t t e r s e t o u t t h e d a t e t h e a p p e l l a n t ( F e b r u a r y a n d M a r c h 2 0 1 4 ) r e g a r d i n g e a p p e l l a n t h a d u n t i l M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 t o s u b m i t n i s t r y i n c l u d i n g r e n t a n d s h e l t e r i n f o r m a t i o n a t t h e c u m e n t a t i o n r e g a r d i n g h i s v e h i c l e s , a n d s o m e n o t p r o v i d e d b a n k s t a t e m e n t s s i n c e t h e f i l e 0 1 4 a n d h a d n o t r e c e i v e d t h e m a s o f t h e d a t e o f
APPEP I PART F -Reasons for Panel Decision The issue in this appeal is the reasonableness of the ministry's reconsideration decision of March 31, 2014, which held that the appellant is not eligible for Income Assistance pursuant to section 1 0 of the EAA because he failed to supply the ministry with information and verification regarding his income and rental accommodations as requested, and he remains ineligible for Income Assistance pursuant to section 32 of the EAR until he supplies the ministry with the requested information. The following sections of the legislation apply to the appellant's circumstances in this appeal: EAA Information and verification: Section 10 states: 10 (1) For the purposes of (a) determining whether a person wanting to apply for income assistance or hardship assistance is eligible to apply for it, (b) determining or auditing eligibility for income assistance, hardship assistance or a supplement, (c) assessing employability and skills for the purposes of an employment plan, or (d) assessing compliance with the conditions of an employment plan, the minister may do one or more of the following: (e) direct a person referred to in paragraph (a), an applicant or a recipient to supply the minister with information within the time and in the manner specified by the minister; (f) seek verification of any information supplied to the minister by a person referred to in paragraph (a), an applicant or a recipient; (g) direct a person referred to in paragraph (a), an applicant or a recipient to supply verification of any information he or she supplied to the minister. (2) The minister may direct an applicant or a recipient to supply verification of information received by the minister if that information relates to the eligibility of the family unit for income assistance, hardship assistance or a supplement. (3) Subsection (1) (e) to (g) applies with respect to a dependent youth for a purpose referred to in subsection (1) (c) or (d). (4) If an applicant or a recipient fails to comply with a direction under this section, the minister may declare the family unit ineligible for income assistance, hardship assistance or a supplement for the prescribed period. (5) If a dependent youth fails to comply with a direction under this section, the minister may reduce the amount of income assistance or hardship assistance provided to or for the family unit by the prescribed amount for the prescribed period. EAR Consequences of failing to provide information or verification when directed: Pursuant to section 32: 32 (1) For the purposes of section 1 0 (4) [information and verification] of the Act, the period for which the minister may declare the family unit ineligible for assistance lasts until the applicant or recipient complies with the direction. EAAT003(10/06/01)
APPEAL I Appellant's Position In his Notice of Appeal dated April 22, 2014, the appellant stated that when he asked the ministry for a time extension for supplying the requested documentation, "it would appear the social worker thought I was not intending to produce documentation which is clearly not the case". He argues that he was not given sufficient notice to provide additional evidence when contacted by the ministry on March 28th. He states "I was not afforded a reasonable amount of time to prepare or even given a reasonable opportunity to defend myself." In his Request for Reconsideration and at the hearing, the appellant argued the following: • He was only asking the ministry for more time; he never said he would not provide the information. He has provided the ministry with "a lot of information all along; I have nothing to hide and can show them my debts." • The ministry was not reasonable in asking him for 4 years of bank statements which would cost him money when he is already in a deficit position. He felt that the ministry investigator "was contrite and abused their ultimate authority." • The ministry did not offer to assist him to get the bank statements or pay for the information. He can only go back 90 days to get bank statements for free, and for some accounts he can query back 6 months. He is happy to provide the CRA records as they do not cost money and having requested his CRA records in mid-April, he is within the ministry's time frame for providing them. • The legislation sets out no time frames for supplying information to the ministry; nor does it say what amount of time is reasonable, or that the ministry will assist in obtaining information that costs money; "and the ministry's word that their time frames were reasonable is not good enough; they need to base it on something, not just make them up." Ministry's Position The ministry's position as set out in its reconsideration decision is that the appellant remains ineligible for Income Assistance because he has failed to supply the requested documentation. The ministry argued that pursuant to section 1 0 of the EAA it may direct a recipient to supply information within the time and in the manner specified by the minister; seek verification of that information; and direct a recipient to verify any information he or she has already supplied. The ministry further submitted that pursuant to section 32 of the EAR it may declare a family unit ineligible for Income Assistance until the applicant or recipient complies with the direction to supply information. The ministry's position is that it gave the appellant sufficient time to supply the information, sending him 3 letters and providing 2 verbal reminders since January 22nd, and giving him a further time extension on March 28th. The ministry argued that 5 weeks is "a reasonable amount of time to complete the request" and the appellant has now had "an additional 4 weeks to submit the documents, for a total of 9 weeks." Further, the appellant has not reported any circumstances beyond his control for failing to comply with the ministry's information requests. EMT 003(10/06/01)
APPEA I At the hearing the ministry argued the following: • It is the appellant's responsibility to provide accurate and complete information and he had read and understood his rights and responsibilities when he signed the Application for Income Assistance and knew that the ministry would verify the accuracy of the information. • Income Assistance is an income and asset based program, and these issues require documentation. The ministry gave the appellant the option of supplying the information by various means including emailing the ministry or calling to discuss the requirements. • The appellant has provided no verification that his small business is not generating any income, nor has he provided proof that he is getting loans from family and friends. Someone could be supporting him without being a common law spouse, and the ministry needs to know the details of his situation in order to assess his eligibility for Income Assistance. • The appellant had plenty of time since the ministry initiated its file review in January 2014 to request his CRA records, but he did not request them until mid-April. The ministry prefers for clients to provide their own information, and in any event it requires detailed information from CRA that only the appellant can obtain. Panel's Decision EAA section 10: Information and verification Subsection 10(1 ): The panel notes that subsection 10(1) of the EAA allows the ministry to direct an Income Assistance recipient to supply the ministry with information for the purpose of determining or auditing whether the recipient is eligible for Income Assistance. In conducting its file review, the ministry can reasonably be said to have been "auditing eligibility for income assistance" pursuant to paragraph 10(1) (b) of the EAA. With regard to the methods the ministry may use in conducting its "auditing" function, paragraph 10(1)(e) is instructive as it gives the ministry the discretion to direct a recipient "to supply the minister with information within the time and in the manner specified by the minister". Despite the appellant's argument that the ministry's time frame was not reasonable and that the EAA does not specifically indicate any time frame, or specify what time frame is reasonable, or direct that the ministry will assist a recipient in obtaining information, the panel reasons that the discretion conferred under paragraph 10(1)(e) as outlined above allows the ministry to specify its own time frames and determine what assistance it will provide in obtaining the requested information. The panel notes that the ministry provided the appellant with a time frame of 9 weeks from January 22 until March 31, 2014 to supply information regarding income, assets, and rental accommodations. Further, the ministry specified the "manner'' in which the information was to be supplied by mailing the appellant requests with a list of documents to be provided, reminding the appellant via letter and telephone, and advising the appellant that he could drop off or mail his information to the ministry or call or email the ministry for further instruction or clarification. Though the appellant argued that he was only asking for a time extension and that he did provide some information to the ministry, the panel notes that the appellant was given a time extension up until March 31, 2014 but did not provide recent information (obtained after the file review was initiated on Janua 22 nd that included bank statements, business records, and verification of loans from EAAT003(10/06/01)
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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.