P A R T C D e c i s i o n u n d e r A p p e a l T h e d e c i s i o n u n d e r a p p e a l i s t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n d a t e d J u l y 3 , 2 0 1 4 , w h i c h s u p p l e m e n t p u r s u a n t t o S e c t i o n 5 5 o f t h e E m p l o y m R e g u l a t i o n ( E A P W D R ) . T h e m i n i s t r y f o u n d t h a t t h e s u p p l e m e n t b e c a u s e h e f a i l e d t o m e e t t h e c r i t e r i a l i s E A P W D R , n a m e l y : • t h e m o v i n g c o s t s w e r e n o t i n c u r r e d f o r a n y o w e r e n o t b e c a u s e t h e m o v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e d u • t h e r e w e r e r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e t o t h e a p p e l l a ( 3 ) ( a ) ; a n d • t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t r e c e i v e t h e m i n i s t r y ' s a p 5 5 ( 3 ) ( b ) . P A R T D R e l e v a n t L e g i s l a t i o n E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e f o r P e r s o n s w i t h D i s a b S c h e d u l e A E A A T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 ): A P P F A I J I D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S o c i a l I n n o v a t i o n ( m i n i s t r y ) h e l d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r a m o v i n g e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e f o r P e r s o n s w i t h D i s a b il i t i e s a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r a m o v i n g t e d i n s e c t i o n 5 5 ( 2 ) , a n d ( 3 ) ( a ) a n d ( b ) o f t h e f t h e r e a s o n s s e t o u t i n S 5 5 ( 2 ) a n d i n p a r t i c u l a r c e d t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s s h e l t e r c o s t s ; n t t o c o v e r t h e c o s t s f o r t h e m o v e [ s e c t i o n 5 5 p r o v a l b e f o r e i n c u r r i n g t h e m o v i n g c o s t s [ s e c t i o n i l i t i e s R e g u l a t i o n ( E A P W D R ) s e c t i o n 5 5 a n d
PAR T E -Summary of Facts T he ev idence befo r e the min is try at the time of recons 1. Request for Reconsideration signed and dated July 2, tho ught he did everyt hing he neede d to in terms of notifying the min move, he is concerned about the m in ist r y losing h t he ministry s h ould h elp p e op l e not p en alize 2 . A S helter Inform ation form dated April 22, 2013 which indicates that appellant's addres which he moved; 3. A han d written notice of moving from th e ap pe th a t h e had been on a wai t l ist for years , now he can April; 4. A si gned declara ti on of income a n d assets dated 5. A 2-pa g e Resid ential Tenancy Agreement sig and 6. Movi n g q uo tes from 3 d if ferent comp a n ies, ea One quote was fo r $399. 0 0, a s econd quot e was last quote indicate s that th e $300 wa s pa i d i n 2014 . A No tice of A pp ea l s i gned and dated July 11, 2 014 which un fa ir to the poorest of the pe ople and t ha t if this was worker the amoun t w o ul d have been p a i d . At the he aring th e appellan t st ated that: • he ad v ised th e m in istr y tha t he was moving; • his n e w la n d lord con tacte d th e minist ry with the det • he o b t ain e d quotes fro m 3 di ff eren t moving co • he had to move from his previous reside nce because his roo and he c ould not aff or d the rent on his own , someone else; • he admits he did not advise the ministry that he • at his previous residence, he paid half of $675 per month plus phone and cable (heat and lights were included); • at his new residence, he pays $328 plus $20 for utilities (heat and light), plus phone and ca • there is a savings to him because he has laundry facilities in the building at the new residence while at the old resi dence he had to walk 2 blo • at the n e w r e si d ence, there is an estimated savings of $20-$30 per month for laundry expenses; • he will keep appealing this issue in an attempt to cost the government more money; • the ministry is hurting the poor by not helping them understand the system. At th e hearing the m inistry r elied o n the reconsideration decision and noted that: • phone, heat and light are costs that fall in the definition of shelter costs; • costs such as cable and laundry are not i n cluded • the ministrv was not informed bv the annellant about his laundrv costs; EAA T003(10/06/01) : AP P F AI # i de ra t i on c onsi sts of: 2014 wh i ch s t ated that the app ellant is try of his intention to is do c ume n t s from the move and he believes them; s from lla n t signed and dated April 7, 2014 which s tates m ove an d he will be moving a t t he e nd of April 30 , 2 014; n ed by the appellant a nd dated A pril 6, 20 14; c h i nd i c atin g the cost of th e appellan t' s m ove . for $ 55 0 . 00 and a t hird quote for $300 . The full i n cash a nd t he d ate of t he move is April 30. st a t e s th a t the ministry's decisi o n was a senator , M LA or MP or oth er g o v e rnm e nt ai l s of the rent; mpanies an d hire d the le a st exp en siv e one; mm ate (hi s daught e r) m oved ou t nor di d h e wan t to share a cc ommod a ti on s with required ass i s t anc e with the mo ving expen s es; ble; c k s to access laundry; and ;
o th e decision is based on the legislati on and none of the cr • in response to a question, the ministry sta ted informed of the services they quali fy for online • th e m i n i stry as sesses and a pproves thousands o t h e refore, r e c i p ie nts are aware of t h e s ervi ce • in response to a qu estion, the m i nistry stated th would be c o nsidered sig nificant, however, in the appellan includ ed so he has that added cost a nd he did not provide a costs. EMT 003( 10/06/01) APPEAL # � i teria have been met; that reci pients of assistance can become or by its tel ephone information l ine; f mo vi ng su pplements every month, s the y can utiliz e; at a ny reductio n in a clien t 's shelter costs t 's case the ess ential u t i lities a re not ny in forma tion reg arding lau ndr y
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 o n a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s w a s r e a s o n a b l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e o r w a s e n a c t m e n t i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l a n t . I n d e t e r m i n i n g t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t f a i l e d t o m e e t t h e c r i t t h e E A P W D R ? T h e r e l e v a n t l e g i s l a t i o n i s a s f o l l o w s : 5 5 ( 1 ) I n t h i s s e c t i o n : " l i v i n g c o s t " m e a n s t h e c o s t o f a " m o v i n g c o s t " m e a n s t h e c o s t o f r o m o n e p l a c e t o a n o t h e r ; " t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t " m e a n s t h e ( 2 ) S u b j e c t t o s u b s e c t i o n s ( 3 ) a n d ( 4 ) , t f a m i l y u n i t t h a t i s e l i g i b l e f o r d i s a b i l w i t h o n e o r m o r e o f t h e f o l l o w i n g : ( a ) m o v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d t h e f a m i l y u n i t i s n o t w o r k w o u l d s i g n i f i c a n t l y p r o m o a n d t h e r e c i p i e n t i s r e q u i ( b ) m o v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d f a m i l y u n i t i s r e q u i r e d t o ( c ) m o v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d a r e a o r t o a n a d j a c e n t m f a m i l y u n i t ' s r e n t e d r e s i d e a n d a n o t i c e t o v a c a t e h a ( d ) m o v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d a r e a o r t o a n a d j a c e n t m u u n i t ' s s h e l t e r c o s t s w o u l d ( e ) m o v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d a v o i d a n i m m i n e n t t h r e a t u n i t ; ( f ) t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t s a n r e l a t i n g t o a c h i l d p r o t e c t i C o m m u n i t y S e rv i c e A c t , i a p a r t y t o t h e p r o c e e d i n g ( g ) t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t s , l i f r o m ( i ) t h e r e q u i r e d a t t h e a r i n a , o r E A A T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # '. i o n t o d e n y t h e a p p e l l a n t a m o v i n g s u p p l e m e n t a r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e p a r t i c u l a r , w a s t h e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b l e i n e r i a l i s t e d i n s e c t i o n 5 5 ( 2 ) , a n d ( 3 ) ( a ) a n d ( b ) o f c c o m m o d a t i o n a n d m e a l s ; f m o v i n g a f a m i l y u n i t a n d i t s p e r s o n a l e f f e c t s c o s t o f t r a v e l l i n g f r o m o n e p l a c e t o a n o t h e r . h e m i n i s t e r m a y p r o v i d e a s u p p l e m e n t t o o r f o r a i t y a s s 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 t o a s s i s t t o m o v e a n y w h e r e i n C a n a d a , i f a r e c i p i e n t i n i n g b u t h a s a r r a n g e d c o n f i r m e d e m p l o y m e n t t h a t t e t h e f i n a n c i a l i n d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t r e d t o m o v e t o b e g i n t h a t e m p l o y m e n t ; t o m o v e t o a n o t h e r p r o v i n c e o r c o u n t r y , i f t h e m o v e t o i m p r o v e i t s l i v i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s ; t o m o v e w i t h i n a m u n i c i p a l i t y o r u n i n c o r p o r a t e d u n i c i p a l i t y o r u n i n c o r p o r a t e d a r e a b e c a u s e t h e n t i a l a c c o m m o d a t i o n i s b e i n g s o l d o r d e m o l i s h e d s b e e n g i v e n , o r h a s b e e n c o n d e m n e d ; t o m o v e w i t h i n a m u n i c i p a l i t y o r u n i n c o r p o r a t e d n i c i p a l i t y o r u n i n c o r p o r a t e d a r e a i f t h e f a m i l y b e s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e d u c e d a s a r e s u l t o f t h e m o v e ; t o m o v e t o a n o t h e r a r e a i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a t o t o t h e p h y s i c a l s a f e t y o f a n y p e r s o n i n t h e f a m i l y d l i v i n g c o s t s r e q u i r e d t o a t t e n d a h e a r i n g o n p r o c e e d i n g u n d e r t h e C h i l d , F a m il y a n d f a r e c i p i e n t i s g i v e n n o t i c e o f t h e h e a r i n g a n d i s ; v i n g c o s t s , c h i l d c a r e c o s t s a n d f e e s r e s u l t i n g e n d a n c e o f a r e c i p i e n t i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t a t a
( ii) other requir e ments a recip in conn ecti o n with t h e e m inister under s ect io n 17 rights]. (3) A family unit is eligible for a supplement (a) there are no resourc wh ich the suppl e ment may be pro (b) a reci p i ent in the family unit receive s the mini s t er Sc hedule A of th e EA P W D R How actual she lter costs are c alcul a te d 5 (1 ) For th e p urpose of this section, ut ility include only the following cos t s: ( a) f u el for h eatin g; ( b ) fuel fo r cooking mea ls; ( c) water; ( d) h ydro ; (e) garbage d isposa l p rovided biwee k l y basis; (f) r en tal of one ba si c re sidential (2) W hen cal cul ati ng the ac tu a l mont following items are included: (a) re n t for the family unit's place of residence; (b) mortga ge payments on the family unit's place of residence, if o by a person in the family unit; (c) a house insurance premium for the family unit's place of residence if owned by a person in the fam (d) property taxes for the family unit's place of person in the family unit; (e) utility costs; (f) the actual cost of maintenance an of residence if owned by a person in the fa EAA T003(10/06/01) APPEAL# � ient in the family unit must fulfil xerci se of a maintenance right assigned to the [ categories that must assign m a intenance under this section only if e s availa ble to the family unit to cover the costs for vided, a n d 's approval befo re incurring thos e costs. c ost s fo r a f am i l y u n it' s plac e of re side n ce by a company on a re gular we ekly or sin gl e -lin e t e lep hone. h ly she lter cos ts of a family un it , on l y the w ned i ly uni t ; residence if owned by a d repairs for t h e f a mily unit's place m ilv un i t a nd if these costs
have received the ministe (3) If util ity costs fluctuate, they may b (a) begin ning on October (b) begin ning o n April 1 and end (4) If 2 or more family uni ts shar e the same place of resid costs of a ny on e of t hem are the small (a) the amount c a lcula ted by (i) dividi ng the actual shel nu mb er of p ers o ns (ii) mul tiplying the r family uni t, and (b) the a mo u n t dec lar e d fa mily u n it. The A pp e lla nt' s P o siti on The app e l lant's position is t h a t he d id no tify t he m inistry e x pe ns ive movers and he was not aw are he had to a H e a l so a rgues that he now s av e s $20 -$30 i n laundry costs so the Th e Ministry's Posi tion T h e ministry ' s position is that the appel lant's mo ve to his shelter costs, he had the resources to pay for the mov incurr ing the costs. The Panel's Decision Section 55(2)(d) of the EAP WDR states that a p erso mov i ng, t h e person's shelter costs are reduced significant $20 -$30 per month in laundr y costs by m o ving. The ministry argues th his utility costs, shelter costs only include e ssential uti m e ntion the laundry co s t savings prior. The panel finds that Schedule A of the EAPWDR does not include laundry as a shelter cost. Therefore, in the calculation of shelter costs, co n s i der t h e essential utilities as outl i ned in Schedu le A. of $9.50 but the added expense of $20 for utilities, his move does not reduce his shelter costs. panel finds the ministry reasonably determined that the appellant's move did not significantly reduce h is shel ter costs a n d that t h e ap pellant's move did not m ( e ). EMT 003(1 0/06/01) APPEAL# � r ' s prior approval. e av er aged over the p e r iods 1 and endi ng on March 31, a n d ing on September 30. ence, th e actual she l ter e r of ter costs for all the family uni t s by the o c cupying that place of residence , and esult by th e number of perso n s i n that one by the fa m ily uni t a s t h e sh elter costs f or tha t of hi s in tens io n to mo ve, hire d t h e leas t s k for t h e mo ving su p plemen t p ri or to the mov e. move doe s sa ve him m o ney. the new resi d e nce does not sig nifi c antly redu c e e and he did not receive approval before n can q u a lify for a moving supplement if, by ly . The appellant argues that he is saving a t t he a ppellant now p ays for l i ties n ot l aun d ry and t h e appellant did not t h e m inistr y m ust S ince the appellant has a reducti on in rent The eet the criteria set out in S 55 (2)(a)-(c) or
S e c t i o n 5 5 ( 3 ) ( a ) o f t h e E A P W D R s t a t e s t h a t a m o v r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e t o t h e r e c i p i e n t t o c o v e r t h e c o s r e s o u r c e s t o p a y f o r t h e m o v e a s h e p a i d f o r i t p r i o r a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e d n o e v i d e n c e a n d m a d e n o s u b m t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e e s t a b l i s h e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d A p r i l 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 , t h e r e c e i p t s h o w s t h a t t h e b i l l w a s p M a y 2 , 2 0 1 4 . T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e t o h i m t o p a y f o r t h e m o v i n g c o S e c t i o n 5 5 ( 3 ) ( b ) o f t h e E A P W D R r e q u i r e s t h a t a r e c i n c u r r i n g t h e c o s t s f o r w h i c h t h e s u p p l e m e n t i s r e q u m i n i s t r y o f h i s m o v e p r i o r t o t h e m o v e b u t a d m i t s h e t h a t t i m e . T h e m i n i s t r y a r g u e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e d e m o n s t r a t e s t h a t t h e r e q u e s t f o r s u p p l e m e n t M a y 2 , 2 0 1 4 t h e r e f o r e d i d n 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 r e a s o n a b l y d e t e r m m i n i s t r y ' s a p p r o v a l b e f o r e i n c u r r i n g t h e c o s t s o f t h e C o n c l u s i o n 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 r e a s o n a b l y c o n c l u d c r i t e r i a s e t o u t i n S e c t i o n 5 5 ( 2 ) , a n d ( 3 ) ( a ) a n d ( b ) o t h e r e f o r e f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t o d e n y t h w a s a r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n a n d w c o n f i r m s t h e m i n i s t r y ' s r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n . E A A T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 ): A P P E A L # I i n g s u p p l e m e n t c a n b e p r o v i d e d i f t h e r e a r e n o t s . T h e m i n i s t r y a r g u e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d t h e t o s u b m i t t i n g h i s c l a i m t o t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e i s s i o n s i n r e l a t i o n t o t h i s i s s u e . T h e p a n e l f i n d s p a y f o r t h e m o v i n g c o s t s o n h i s o w n a s h e m o v e d a i d i n c a s h , a n d h e r e q u e s t e d t h e s u p p l e m e n t o n l y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d t h e s t s . i p i e n t r e c e i v e s t h e m i n i s t r y ' s a p p r o v a l b e f o r e e s t e d . T h e a p p e l l a n t a r g u e s t h a t h e n o t i f i e d t h e d i d n o t r e q u e s t s f u n d s f o r t h e m o v i n g c o s t s a t n o t h a v e p r e a p p r o v a l f o r t h e m o v i n g c o s t s . T h e a p p e l l a n t m o v e d A p r i l 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 a n d s u b m i t t e d h i s o t h a v e p r e a p p r o v a l f o r t h e e x p e n s e o f t h e m o v e . i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t r e c e i v e t h e m o v e . e d t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e e s t a b l i s h e s t h a t t h e r e q u i r e d f t h e E A P W D R h a v e n o t b e e n m e t . T h e p a n e l e a p p e l l a n t ' s r e q u e s t f o r a m o v i n g s u p p l e m e n t a s s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e . T h u s , t h e p a n e l
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.