APPEAL# � PART C -Decision under Appeal The decision under appeal is the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (the "ministry") reconsideration decision of May 22, 2014, wherein the ministry determined that the appellant was no longer eligible for disability assistance in accordance with section 28 of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation. The basis for the determination was that the appellant failed to comply with the ministry's direction to provide information as required under section 10 of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act. PART D -Relevant Legislation Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act ("EAPWDA"), section 1O Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation ("EAPWDR"), section 28(1) EAAT 003(10/06/01)
I ��PEAL# PART E -Summarv of Facts The information before the ministry at the time of reconsideration included the following: • The appellant is a sole recipient of disability assistance. Her file opened in September, 1997. • Letters from the ministry to the appellant dated November 13 and November 28, 2013 asking the appellant to provide information including: ► Copies of notices of income tax assessment ("NOA") for 2011 and 2012 with corresponding T4 and T5 slips. ► Statements for all bank accounts, sole or joint, for the period of January 1, 2011 to November 13, 2013. ► Statements for all investments, RRSPs, pension funds and other assets. • A report from the Canada Revenue Agency (the "CRA"), dated November 27, 2013, indicating that the appellant had earned business income in 2012. • A report from the CRA dated November 27, 2013, indicating that the appellant had earned professional income in 2011. • A copy of the appellant's 2012 income tax return. • A letter from the ministry to the appellant dated January 6, 2014 requesting various pieces of information including the "T slips". • An e-mail from the appellant dated January 10, 2014 stating in part that her apartment had been broken into, her income tax reports and receipts were stolen, and that she did not have a printer so could not immediately provide stubs from her home based business. She stated that a police file had been started regarding the break-in. • A questionnaire completed by the appellant on July 5, 2011 as part of the application process to join the ministry's Self-Employment Program ("SEP"). • The appellant's bank statements for the period January 1, 2011 to November 14, 2013. • Approximately 75 pages of photocopied expense receipts. • Approximately 30 pages of the appellant's product orders from company A for 2013. • Approximately 33 pages of the appellant's product orders from company B for 2013. • A note to the ministry's file, dated February 5 2014, reporting that the ministry's investigating officer ("1/0") had spoken to an RCMP constable who said that the complaint from the appellant dealt with cyberbullying, not with the theft of financial statements. A subsequent file note dated March 12, 2014 referenced a further conversation with the constable who attended at the appellant's apartment "when she thouQht her apartment had been broken into" EAAT 003(10/06/01)
I �PPEAL# confirming that a case containing 3 CDs was allegedly missing from the appellant's apartment (though the case was subsequently found), and that "income receipts and tax information being stolen ...d id not come up." • A letter from the ministry to the appellant dated February 5, 2014 requesting that the appellant go through her financial information with a calendar and write up a financial statement showing her earnings each month during 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. • The appellant's letter to the ministry (dated February 12, 2014) in response to the ministry's letter of February 5, 2014, in which the appellant stated in part: ► That she had submitted on January 31 and February 3, 2014 all of the financial information in her possession for 2011, 2012 and 2013. ► If one were to take all of her financial information and "simply do a division by 12" to estimate a monthly income, the appellant's "financial situation is still [v]astly below the po[v]erty level." ► The appellant "did extra effort" to request that CRA provide a T5007 and printouts after the "truthful theft of those years of income tax records along with the finite receipts", and then did "another extra effort" in obtaining the full tax record for 2012 and other detailed information related to her businesses. ► She had been told by the ministry that under the SEP she only had to submit her earnings/deductions yearly at income tax time. ► The appellant had never been informed by the ministry that she was not eligible for the SEP. ► She cannot provide a further monthly breakdown of her finances, the ministry has all it needs to determine what it wants to know, and the appellant is exhausted from her efforts to please the ministry. • A letter from the ministry to the appellant dated March 4, 2014, advising the appellant that the requested monthly income information had not been received by the ministry, so the appellant's eligibility could not be determined and accordingly her file would be closed on April 1, 2014. • A written statement from the appellant's daughter, dated April 17, 2014, stating (among other things) that there is proof her mother's financial statements were stolen as there is a police file, and that her mother was never informed that she had to provide detailed income information on a monthly basis. In her oral testimony on appeal, the appellant substantially reiterated information that had been before the ministry at the time of reconsideration. She also stated that: • The deposits to her bank account from her work with Avon represent a gross amount and do not reflect her expenses, and often include the portion that subsequently gets paid to Avon. The appellant said that her share is only 10-25%. • She has tried to get more detailed financial records from Avon, Regal and the travel agency for which she did some work, but said that for various reasons none of them could provide her with any more information. • She reaistered with the ministrv's SEP in 2011. She stated that she was told by the ministry EAAT 003(10/06/01)
w o r k e r t h a t s h e o n l y h a d t o r e p o r t h e r e a r n e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t h e r i n c o m e t o t h e m i n t o h a v e b e e n a c c e p t e d i n t o t h e S E P . • N o w t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y h a s t o l d h e r s h e h a s t s o s i n c e J a n u a r y 2 0 1 4 . I n r e s p o n s e t o a q u e s t i o n f r o m t h e p a n e l , t h e a p p e i n c o m e t a x r e t u r n s a t t h e e n d o f e a c h y e a r . A d d i t i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n A t t h e h e a r i n g t h e m i n i s t r y s u b m i t t e d a w r i t t e n o u t l i a r g u m e n t . T h e m i n i s t ry a l s o s u b m i t t e d a t w o p a g e p r i n t o u t f r o d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d J u l y 2 0 0 6 t o S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , t h e J u l y 1 3 , 2 0 1 1 . T h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t o b j e c t t o a d m d o c u m e n t a s s u p p o r t i n g t h e m i n i s t r y ' s c o n t e n t i o n t h d u r i n g t h e r e l e v a n t t i m e p e r i o d , a n d a d m i t t e d i t a s w o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t . T h e a p p e l l a n t s u b m i t t e d a c o p y o f a n e m a i l w h i c h o n F e b r u a ry 2 6 , 2 0 1 4 a c k n o w l e d g i n g t h a t s h e ' d p r o n u m b e r r e g a r d i n g t h e a l l e g e d b r e a k i n a t h e r a p a r t m r e l e v a n c e o f t h i s d o c u m e n t t o t h e c u r r e n t a p p e a l , t h s u p p o r t e d h e r c o n t e n t i o n t h a t X a n d t h e a p p e l l a n t m n o t e s t h a t t h e a l l e g e d b r e a k i n w a s r e f e r e n c e d i n t h b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y . T h e p a n e l a c c e p t e d t h i s d o c u m i n s u p p o r t o f t h e r e c o r d s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t h a d b a c c o r d a n c e w i t h s e c t i o n 2 2 ( 4 ) o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # ! d i n c o m e o n c e a y e a r , t h a t t h e C R A w o u l d p r o v i d e i s t r y , a n d t h a t s h e w a s o n l y t h e 3 r d p e r s o n i n B . C . o r e p o r t h e r i n c o m e m o n t h l y , s h e h a s b e e n d o i n g l l a n t s t a t e d t h a t s h e h a s a n a c c o u n t a n t p r e p a r e h e r n e o f i t s p o s i t i o n w h i c h t h e p a n e l a c c e p t e d a s m i t s c o m p u t e r f i l e s w h i c h i t s a y s s h o w s t h a t a p p e l l a n t r e p o r t e d o n l y $ 5 8 i n e a r n e d i n c o m e , o n i s s i o n o f t h e d o c u m e n t . T h e p a n e l a s s e s s e d t h e a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d u n r e p o rt e d e a r n e d i n c o m e r i t t e n t e s t i m o n y 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 ) s h e h a d s e n t t o t h e m i n i s t r y ' s i n v e s t i g a t i n g o f f i c e r v i d e d t h e m i n i s t r y w i t h t h e w r o n g R C M P c a s e f i l e e n t . W h e n q u e s t i o n e d b y t h e p a n e l a s t o t h e e a p p e l l a n t s a i d t h a t t h e d o c u m e n t s w o u l d h a v e a i n t a i n e d t h e i r f i n a n c e s s e p a r a t e l y . T h e p a n e l e a p p e l l a n t ' s w r i t t e n s u b m i s s i o n s t h a t h a d b e e n e n t , a n d t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s o r a l t e s t i m o n y , a s b e i n g e e n b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n , i n n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t .
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 u n d e r a p p e a l i s t h e r e a s o n a b l e n e s s o f t h l o n g e r e l i g i b l e f o r d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e d u e t o h e r f a s e c t i o n 1 O o f t h e E A P W D A , w i t h s a i d i n e l i g i b i l i t y t o a c c o r d a n c e w i t h s e c t i o n 2 8 ( 1 ) o f 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 v e p r o v i s i o n s a r e a s f o l l o w s : E A P W D A I n f o r m a t i o n a n d v e r i f i c a t i o n 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 e r a p h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e i s e l i g i b ( b ) d e t e r m i n i n g o r a u d i t i n g a s s i s t a n c e o r a s u p p l e m e n t ( c ) a s s e s s i n g e m p l o y a b i l i t y o r ( d ) a s s e s s i n g c o m p l i a n c e w t h e m i n i s t e r m a y d o o n e o r m o r e o f t h e ( e ) d i r e c t a p e r s o n r e f e r r e d s u p p l y t h e m i n i s t e r w i t h i n f o b y t h e m i n i s t e r ; ( f ) s e e k v e r i f i c a t i o n o f a n y i r e f e r r e d t o i n p a r a g r a p h ( a ) ( g ) d i r e c t a p e r s o n r e f e r r e d s u p p l y v e r i f i c a t i o n o f a n y i n ( 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 n t 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 a t i d i s a b i l i t y 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 i t h 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 i l s t o c 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 e l i 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 i o d . ( 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 l y r e d u c e t h e a m o u n t o f d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c 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 o r E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )� A P P E A L # e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t o d e c l a r e t h e a p p e l l a n t n o i l u r e t o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h l a s t u n t i l t h e r e q u e s t e d i n f o r m a t i o n i s p r o v i d e d i n e r s o n w a n t i n g t o a p p l y f o r d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e o r l e t o a p p l y f o r i t , e l i g i b i l i t y f o r d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e , h a r d s h i p , 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 p l a n , 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 , f o l l o w i n g : 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 t o 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 s p e c i f i e d 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 , a n a p p l i c a n t o r a r e c i p i e n t ; 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 t o 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 . 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 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 . r e s p e c t t o a d e p e n d e n t y o u t h fo r a p u r p o s e 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 g i b l e f o r d i s a b i l i t y 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 o r 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 m a y 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 t h e p r e s c r i b e d p e r i o d .
EAPW DR C onsequenc es of f ailing to provide i nforma t ion o r ver if i cati 2s (1 ) For the p urpose s of section 10 ( 4 ) [ i nformat which the mini s ter may de clar e the f amily recipient com plies wi th the dir ec tio n. • T he appell ant's posit ion is that to t he best of her a b min ist r y request ed. S h e a rgu ed that she doe sn't know wha unreaso n able f o r the minis try to exp ec t her to d o mor for the min ist r y to expect he r to pro v ide a monthly b p e r i o d. S he said th at the minis try ca n mak e i ts o wn provid ed. Th e app el lan t state d t h at she'd bee n advi accept ed i nt o t he SEP, an d that sh e only h a d to r epor al so state d that a t no t ime did her earned income exceed wa s in p la c e d ur ing mos t of the r elevant time pe riod. Hu d son v. B rit i sh Columbia ( Employmen t a n d Ass ist arguin g that t he panel mu s t give sig n ifi can t w eig ht to h doubt her t es t im on y and tha t t h e p ane l mu s t take it a T he m i nis tr y ' s p osit ion is tha t a r ev ie w of the ap pellant's f o bli gation (unde r sec tion 1 1 of th e EA PWDA and s e 2011 -201 3 . T h e mi n istry stated that the appellan t failed by the mi ni s t ry fo r t he purpo se o f dete r mi ni ng or a u s ec tion 10 of th e EAP W DA. A c cordin gly, th e mi n i st that the a ppe llant w as i n elig ible for d i s ab i l i ty ass i s t ance P a ne l Decision Section 1 0 of t he EAPWDA g ives t he ministr y b r oad po information and v erif ica t io n as pa r t of de termining or ve documentation received by the ministry from the CRA indicated that the appel income for income t a x p urposes which she had not reported to the ministry as required. The appellant has argue d that she di d provide everything that she could provide. that the mini stry s pecifically directed the appellant to during the period 2 011 t o 2 014 w hich the app ellant th e m inistry w a s "over th e top" and that she no lo ng prepare such a breakdown. She suggested instead that the mini with respect to product orders, as well as her unsort come up with its own estimate of her monthly income. In the panel's view, it was not unreasonable for the mi monthly breakdown. She had a statutory obligation to inform the ministry of her income each month by the 5 th of the following month. T h e appellant h a s that the ministrv had told her that she only had to reoort her income annually, or that the CRA would EAAT 003(10/06/01) I APP EAL# on wh en d irect ed io n and ve r i f icati on] of th e Act , th e pe riod for ineligib le fo r ass ist a n ce la sts unti l the ap plicant or • ility s he has pro vi ded al l the informati o n the t e lse s he can p r ovid e a nd tha t it is e. The appellant ar gue d tha t it is "o ver t h e top" r eakdown o f her income dur i ng the rele v ant estimate bas ed on the in for mati o n she has sed b y a minis tr y work er that s h e' d been t e arne d income once a year, at year en d. She the $50 0 earned income ex emption tha t Finall y, the a pp ell ant cited t he d e cis i o n in ance App e al T r ibu n al ) [200 9 ] B .C.J . 21 24 in er t est imony. She said the re is no re ason t o t face value. i le sh ows tha t sh e did not fulfill he r statut o ry ction 29 of th e E APW DR) t o r epo rt income i n to pr ovide i nfor m ation an d rec ords di r e c te d diti ng eli g i bilit y f or disa bility ass i s t ance under r y a rgued, the mi n i st ry r e a sonabl y d e te rm in ed until she provid e d tha t required infor m a tion. we rs to requi r e a reci pien t to provide rify i ng eligibil it y. In th e appellan t 's cas e, lant had reported The panel n ot e s provid e a monthly breakdown of her income has fa i le d to d o. Sh e sta ted t ha t t his request by er had the fina nc ial records she required to stry review her volumino u s records ed expense receipts and bank statements to n i stry to request the appellant to prov i de the provid ed no ev idence to supp ort her contention
m a k e t h i s r e p o r t o n h e r b e h a l f . I t i s c l e a r f r o m t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s r e p o r t i n g i n c o m e t o t h e C R A t h a t s h t e s t i m o n y t h e a p p e l l a n t a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t s h e h a s G i v e n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t s h e d o t h e m i n i s t r y , a n d s i n c e t h e a p p e l l a n t d o e s h a v e t h e i n c o m e t a x r e t u r n s , i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t i s i n e s t i m a t e o f h e r m o n t h l y i n c o m e f o r t h e r e l e v a n t t i m h a s n o t p r o v i d e d t h e m o n t h l y b r e a k d o w n a s d i r e c t e I t i s i r r e l e v a n t w h e t h e r t h e a m o u n t o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' a l l o w a b l e e a r n i n g s e x e m p t i o n . T h e i s s u e i n t h i s a p p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e m i n i s t r y a s d i r e c t e d a n d W i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c o n t e n t i o n t h a t t h e p p a n e l h a s d e c l i n e d t o d o s o o n t h e b a s i s o f c o n c e r n n u m e r o u s i n s t a n c e s w h e r e t h e a p p e l l a n t h a s m a d e u n s u p p o r t e d b y o t h e r e v i d e n c e , s u c h a s h e r b e i n g s h e o n l y h a d t o r e p o r t h e r i n c o m e o n c e a y e a r , a n d t h e m i n i s t r y o n h e r b e h a l f . T h e p a n e l a l s o n o t e s t h R C M P r e g a r d i n g a n a l l e g e d t h e f t o f h e r f i n a n c i a l i n f t h e f t o f f i n a n c i a l r e c o r d s w a s n o t r a i s e d b y t h e a p p e C o n s i d e r i n g t h e e v i d e n c e a s a w h o l e , t h e p a n e l c o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d f a i l e d t o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n a S e c t i o n 1 0 ( 4 ) o f t h e E A P W D A p r o v i d e s t h a t i f a r e c 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 e l i g i b l e f o r a p r e s c r i b e t h e E A P W D R i s " . . . u n t i l t h e a p p l i c a n t o r r e c i p i e n t c o F o r t h e s e r e a s o n s , 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 ' d i s a b i l i t y a s s i s t a n c e u n t i l s h e c o m p l i e s w i t h t h e m i n 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 i n t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c i r c u m m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n . E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I � P P E A L # t a x i n f o r m a t i o n r e c e i v e d f r o m t h e C R A t h a t t h e e d i d n o t r e p o r t t o t h e m i n i s t r y . I n h e r o r a l a n a c c o u n t a n t p r e p a r e h e r i n c o m e t a x r e t u r n s . e s e a r n i n c o m e w h i c h w a s n o t r e p o r t e d m o n t h l y t o a s s i s t a n c e o f a n a c c o u n t a n t t o p r e p a r e h e r a b e t t e r p o s i t i o n t h a n t h e m i n i s t r y t o p r o v i d e a n e p e r i o d . T h e a p p e l l a n t a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t s h e d b y t h e m i n i s t r y . s e a r n e d i n c o m e u l t i m a t e l y w a s u n d e r t h e p e a l i s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d a n o b l i g a t i o n t o s h e d i d n o t d o s o . a n e l m u s t a c c e p t h e r e v i d e n c e a t f a c e v a l u e , t h e s i t h a s w i t h s o m e o f h e r e v i d e n c e . T h e r e a r e s t a t e m e n t s f a v o u r a b l e t o h e r s e l f t h a t a r e t o l d t h a t s h e h a d b e e n a c c e p t e d i n t o t h e S E P , t h a t t h a t t h e C R A w o u l d r e p o r t h e r e a r n e d i n c o m e t o a t t h e a p p e l l a n t t w i c e r e f e r r e d t h e m i n i s t r y t o t h e o r m a t i o n , a n d t w i c e t h e R C M P s t a t e d t h a t t h e l l a n t . c l u d e 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 i n e d s d i r e c t e d u n d e r s e c t i o n 1 0 o f t h e E A P W D A . i p i e n t f a i l s t o c o m p l y w i t h a d i r e c t i o n , t h e m i n i s t r y d p e r i o d . T h e p e r i o d p r e s c r i b e d i n s e c t i o n 2 8 o f m p l i e s w i t h t h e d i r e c t i o n . " 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 i s i n e l i g i b l e f o r i s t r y ' s d i r e c t i o n u n d e r s e c t i o n 1 O i s a r e a s o n a b l e s t a n c e s . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e p a n e l c o n f i r m s t h e
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.