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 r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c S o c i a l I n n o v a t i o n ( t h e " m i n i s t ry " ) d a t e d N o v e m b e r 5 , e l i g i b l e f o r a c r i s i s s u p p l e m e n t f o r n a t u r a l g a s b e c a u n o t m e e t t h e e l i g i b i l i t y r e q u i r e m e n t s s e t o u t i n s e c t i o n R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) . S p e c i f i c a l l y , t h e m i n i s t r y f o u n d t h a m e e t t h e e x p e n s e , a n d t h a t n o t m e e t i n g t h e e x p e n s e m i g h t r e s u l t i n i m m i n e n t d a n g e r t o h e r p h y s i c a l h e a l t u n e x p e c t e d e x p e n s e f o r n a t u r a l g a s a s r e q u i r e d b y s 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 R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) s e c t i o EAA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # I i s i o n o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l D e v e l o p m e n t a n d 2 0 1 4 w h i c h h e l d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t s e t h e m i n i s t ry 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 d i d 5 9 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 t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t h a v e t h e r e s o u r c e s t o f o r r e c o n n e c t i n g t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s n a t u r a l g a s h , b u t h e l d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t d i d n o t h a v e a n e c t i o n 5 9 ( 1 ) ( a ) o f t h e E A R . n 5 9
P A R T E -S u m m a o f F a c t s T h e d o c u m e n t a ry e v i d e n c e b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t r e c 1 . A M e d i c a l R e p o r t P e r s o n s w i t h P e r s i s t e n t M c o m p l e t e d b y a p h y s i c i a n a n d i d e n t i f i e s t h e a ( o n s e t F e b r u a r y 1 , 2 0 0 7 ) a n d G e n e r a l A n x i e t y 2 . A l e t t e r d a t e d S e p t e m b e r 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 f r o m a n a t p a y m e n t a r r a n g e m e n t m a d e b y t h e a p p e l l a n t c a l l e d f o r p a y m e n t s o f $ 1 0 0 o n e a c h o f S e p t e $ 1 7 5 . 9 9 o n O c t o b e r 1 , 2 0 1 4 . 3 . A b a n k s t a t e m e n t d a t e d S e p t e m b e r 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 s u p p l i e r 4 . A b a n k s t a t e m e n t d a t e d S e p t e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 s u p p l i e r . 5 . A b i l l f r o m a n a t u r a l g a s s u p p l i e r t o t h e a p p e l l t h e p r e v i o u s b a l a n c e w a s $ 1 7 5 9 . 7 6 a n d w i t h b a l a n c e d u e i m m e d i a t e l y o f $ 1 7 8 1 . 3 6 . A d d i t i o o n N o v e m b e r 6 , 2 0 1 4 . 6 . A N o t i c e o f D i s c o n n e c t i o n d a t e d O c t o b e r 2 0 , a p p e l l a n t a d v i s i n g t h a t p a y m e n t o f $ 5 4 2 . 1 1 w d i s c o n n e c t i o n . 7 . T h e a p p e l l a n t ' s R e q u e s t f o r R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n p r o v i d e s t h e f o l l o w i n g r e a s o n f o r r e q u e s t i n g r " I p a i d 2 0 0 . 0 0 d o l l a r s t o w a r d s b i l l 1 0 0 . 0 0 o n S W e l f a r e c o u l d h e l p w i t h t h i s u n t i l I w a s t o l d b y t r i e d o t h e r r e s o u r c e s . I h a v e a o l d b i l l f ro m ( p r c o u l d n ' t p a y r e n t w a s k i c k e d o u t . I h a v e fi b r o m I ' m i n ( s p e c i fi e d a c c o m m o d a t i o n ) t r y i n g t o g e t i n t o c o m i n g t o s t a y w i t h m e b u t h a v i n g n o h e a m e . S o I w i ll b e o n s t r e e t a g a i n . S o c i a l S e rv i c s i c k I ' m d o w n f o r u p t o 3 m o n t h s w h i c h m e a n h e l p i n g m e t h e y s h u t m y g a s o ff f o r 1 7 5 . 9 9 t h fo r I s p o k e w i t h 3 d i ff e r e n t p e o p l e . I ' m a l s o t r y c o u l d d o h a v e t o p a y r e n t fi r s t . A n d m y c h i l d r e I ' m s i c k . I h a v e c r e d i t o n H y d r o b i l l . H a d t o g e g o t o m y j o b s i n ( c o m m u n i t y ) a n d o u t t o ( w o r k c a n n o t w o rk a f u l l t i m e j o b d o n ' t h a v e a n y m o b a d r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h e x h u s b a n d h e d o e s n ' t h w e r e s t o l e n f ro m s t r e e t a l l m y c h i l d r e n ' s t h i n g a n y t h i n g t o h e l p m e g e t m o v e r s n o t h i n g . I d i d h a v e b e e n d o i n g g o o d u n t il t h i s b i l l w h i c h w i l l t h e r e d a d w h o i s a h e a v y d r i n k e r a n d m e n o t s s i n c e b i r t h u n t i l m y h e a l t h w e n t d o w n h i l l f ro m t h e m o n e y t h a t ' s fi n e I w i l l . B u t I a m a m o t h e r w i t h h e a t a n d h o t w a t e r . I d o n ' t d r i n k o r d o d r u m y f a m i l y . I w a s a l s o d e n i e d P e o p l e M u l t i b e rri t h e i l l n e s s . B u t I ' m t r y i n g . I h a v e n o f a m i l y t o h EAA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # I 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 : u l t i p l e B a r r i e r s d a t e d J u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 4 t h a t w a s p p e l l a n t ' s m e d i c a l c o n d i t i o n s a s F i b r o m y a l g i a D i s o r d e r ( F e b r u a r y 1 , 2 0 0 7 ) . u r a l g a s s u p p l i e r t o t h e a p p e l l a n t c o n f i r m i n g a t o p a y h e r o u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e . T h e s c h e d u l e m b e r 1 5 a n d 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 , a n d a f i n a l p a y m e n t o f s h o w i n g a p a y m e n t o f $ 1 0 0 t o a n a t u r a l g a s s h o w i n g a p a y m e n t o f $ 1 0 0 t o a n a t u r a l g a s a n t d a t e d O c t o b e r 1 5 , 2 0 1 4 . T h e b i l l s t a t e s t h a t a l a t e p a y m e n t c h a r g e o f $ 2 1 . 6 0 r e s u l t s i n a n a l c h a r g e s r e s u l t i n a b a l a n c e o f $ 1 8 1 6 . 0 3 d u e 2 0 1 4 s e n t b y a n a t u r a l g a s s u p p l i e r t o t h e a s r e q u i r e d b e f o r e O c t o b e r 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 t o a v o i d d a t e d O c t o b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 i n w h i c h t h e a p p e l l a n t e c o n s i d e r a t i o n : e p t 1 21 1 4 1 0 0 . 0 0 o n S e p t 1 6 1 1 4 . I d i d n ' t k n o w A v i c a t e ( s i c ) o n p h o n e . S o t h a t i s w h a t I d i d a l s o e v i o u s a d d r e s s ) f ro m O c t/ 1 3 w h e n I g o t s i c k y a l g i a t h a t h a s g o t t e n w o r s e b u t I w o r k 2 j o b s . o n m y f e e t . I h a v e 2 c h i l d r e n a n d t r a n s i t i o n i n g t o r h o t w a t e r m a k e s i t h a r d f o r t h e m t o s t a y w i t h e s i s t o h e l p n o t s p l i t f a m i l i e s a p a rt . A n d w h e n I ' m s n o m o n e y n o fo o d n o s h e l t e r . S o h o w i s t h a t e n s a i d 5 4 2 . 1 1 n o w 1 , 8 7 6 . 0 3 . I t ' s t o o c o n f u s i n g i n g t o d o b e t t e r a n d p a y i n g t o $ 2 0 0 . 0 0 i s w h a t I n c o m e t o s t a y b u t n o w n o h e a t n o h o t w a t e r a n d t m y c a r fi x $ 4 0 0 . 0 0 s o I c a n g o t o w o r k n o b u s e s p l a c e ) w h e r e I w o rk a n d b e c a u s e o f m y i ll n e s s I n e y f o r m y m e d s . M y c h i l d r e n a r e fi r s t w a s i n a e l p a t a l l w h e n k i c k o u t o f h o u s e a ll b e l o n g i n g s s , f a m i l y p i c t u r e s . W e l f a r e d i d n o t h e l p w i t h n o t a s k t o g e t s i c k a n d I ' m d o i n g w h a t I c a n a n d I p u t m y c h i l d r e n a n d I o n t h e s t r e e t a n d t h e m w i t h e e i n g m y c h i l d r e n . T h e y h a v e b e e n w i t h m e w o r k i n g 3 j o b s b a c k t h e n . I f I h a v e t o p a y b a c k a n d h a v e a ri g h t t o h a v e m y c h i l d r e n i n a h o m e g s . I w o rk 2 j o b s . I n e e d t h e h e l p . P l e a s e t h i s i s e s . A l s o m y m e m o r y i s n ' t t h a t g o o d b e c a u s e o f e l p m e . T h a n k y o u . "
APPEAL# I Prior to the hearing the appellant submitted: • A bank statement dated November 14, 2014 showing payments of $300 and $242.11 to a natural gas supplier. A handwritten comment on the statement reads: "P.S. Now short on renr. • a 5 page submission which included a handwritten note dated November 28, 2014 which read "To Whom it May Concern -We (name of appellant's younger daughter) and (name of appellant's son) spend 40% to 50% of time with our Mom (name of appellant). Signed by the appellant's younger daughter. Also included were 2 page Student Information Verifi cation Forms for the appellant's younger daughter and son. In both of these forms it was indicated that the children live with their mother and not with their father. In addition, both forms listed the comment "Both parents share custody -children live with their mother'' under Additional Inf o rmation. Neither form had a signature under the statement "I certify that the inf o rmation on this form is correct". At the hearing the appellant explained that she was evicted from her previous residence after becoming sick and being unable to work. She moved into her present accommodation in August 2014 and arranged f o r service from a natural gas supplier. She stated that the large gas bill she received was unexpected because she was anticipating that her natural gas bills would be modest in her new accommodation, and she had an unpaid balance from her previous gas service supplier which she thought was fairly small (about $800). Accordingly, she was surprised and confused when she was advised by her natural gas supplier that her service was being disconnected and that she had an outstanding balance of $1759.76 owing. She made a payment arrangement with her natural gas supplier to pay installments of $100 on September 15, 2014 and September 16, 2014, and an additional payment of $175.99 on October 1, 2014. She confirmed at the hearing that she did make the first two paym�nts of $100 but was unable to make the October 1 st payment of $175.99 because she needed the money to pay her rent. She stated that she received a letter advising her that her gas service would be discontinued on October 31, 2014 but the service had already been disconnected before the letter was received. She spoke by telephone with a manager at the natural gas supplier and was able to work out a repayment schedule which allowed her natural gas service to be restored. She made payments of $300 and $242.11 to the natural gas supplier on November 14, 2014 as required in the repayment agreement. Now that her natural gas service is restored her 2 younger children are living with her some of the time. She needs the crisis supplement because she has no money left after paying f o r her recent move, her truck repairs, and the cost of restoring her natural gas service. She relies on the local food bank. The ministry explained that there are three requirements f o r a recipient of income assistance to qualify for a crisis supplement and all three must be met. The ministry has determined that the appellant has met two of those requirements: she does not have the resources to meet the expense, and not meeting the expense for reconnecting the appellant's natural gas might result in imminent danger to her physical health, but the ministry held that the appellant did not have an unexpected expense f o r natural gas as required by section 59(1) (a) of the EAR The ministry noted that the appellant had stated that she was aware that she had an outstanding balance owing to her natural gas provider when she moved in to her present accommodation. The ministry noted that the appellant had started to work with the natural gas provider starting in August to make repayment arrangements. The ministry explained that an unexpected cost might be incurred if one moved to accommodation which had an unexpectedly greater cost -such as might occur if the accommodation had only single pane glass, or if one had an unexpected failure of a water tank. But in the case of the appellant the EAAT 003(10/06/01)
m i n i s t r y n o t e d t h a t s h e k n e w a b o u t t h e o u t s t a n d i n g b r e p a y m e n t s c h e d u l e w h i c h w a s a g r e e d t o b u t n o t s a T h e m i n i s t r y i n d i c a t e d t h a t i t h a d n o o b j e c t i o n t o t h e N o v e m b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 s h o w i n g p a y m e n t s o f $ 3 0 0 a n d m i n i s t r y d i d o b j e c t t o t h e a d m i s s i o n o f t h e 5 p a g e s u d a t e d N o v e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 a n d t h e 2 p a g e S t u d e n t I n y o u n g e r d a u g h t e r a n d s o n . T h e m i n i s t r y ' s o b j e c t i o n w w a s n o t r e l e v a n t t o t h e a p p e a l . T h e p a n e l a d m i t t e d t h e o r a l t e s t i m o n y a s b e i n g i n s u r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n , 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 ) o f a d d i t i o n , t h e p a n e l a d m i t t e d t h e 5 p a g e s u b m i s s i o n w N o v e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 a n d t h e 2 p a g e S t u d e n t I n f o r m a y o u n g e r d a u g h t e r a n d s o n a s b e i n g i n s u p p o r t o f t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n , 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 ) o f i t i s i n s u p p o r t o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s c l a i m t h a t t h e a p p e l l t i m e . T h e p a n e l d i d n o t a d m i t t h e b a n k s t a t e m e n t d a 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 r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n EAA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # I a l a n c e o w e d a n d h a d a r r a n g e d a p l a n n e d t i s f i e d . a d m i s s i o n o f t h e b a n k s t a t e m e n t d a t e d $ 2 4 2 . 1 1 t o a n a t u r a l g a s s u p p l i e r . B u t t h e b m i s s i o n w h i c h i n c l u d e d a h a n d w r i t t e n n o t e fo r m a t i o n V e ri f i c a t i o n F o rm s f o r t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s a s b a s e d o n t h e a r g u m e n t t h a t t h e s u b m i s s i o n p p o r t o f 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 E m p l o y m e n t A s s i s t a n c e A c t ( E A A ) . I n h i c h i n c l u d e d a h a n d w r i t t e n n o t e d a t e d t i o n V e r i f i c a t i o n F o r m s f o r e a c h o f t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s 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 E m p l o y m e n t A s s i s t a n c e A c t ( E A A ) b e c a u s e a n t ' s y o u n g e r c h i l d r e n l i v e w i t h h e r s o m e o f t h e t e d N o v e m b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 a s i t w a s n o t i n s u p p o r t o f .
PART F -Reasons f o r Panel D e cis ion The iss u e in this appeal is whether t h e m i nistry reason f o r nat ural gas based up on sectio n 59(1)(a) b ecause unexpected expense. Spec ific ally, the issue is w hether the mini suppo rte d b y the evide n ce , o r is a rea s onable application th e ap pellant. The relev an t legisla tion is t h e f ollowing: Fr om the E AR: Crisi s suppl eme n t 59 (1) Th e mi n is ter may pr ovide a c r is i s sup pl e m e nt a s sis ta nc e o r har dshi p a s sis t ance if (a) the f amily un i t or a person in the family un it requi e xpense o r obta in a n item une xpec tedl y nee ded and b e cau se th e r e are no resource s a vail a b le to the f amily (b) t h e mini ster consid e rs t ha t fa i lu re to m eet t h e expens ( i ) immine nt dang er to th e ph ysical h e al th of an ( ii) remo va l o f a ch ild u n der the Chil d , Fam ily and Communi The appel lan t's pos itio n is t h at t h e amount of the ba l unexpecte d . She had u nde rsto od that the outst andi ng ba re sid e n ce was only a b out $ 8 00 a nd had expected that t a cc om modation w ould be mo d est. B u t once r e c on nection costs, inte charg e s w e re include d, t h e ba l a n ce that t h e appell a nt w expected, and fa r m ore tha n sh e co uld affor d to p ay. amo u nt req uired by the n atura l g as s u ppl ie r and how The ministry 's pos itio n i s that utility c osts su ch as natural gas s exp enditu res. Moreover , t h e m i nistry arg ue s that t h e a ou ts tanding bal ance owing to h er natural gas pr ovider ministry noted that the ap pell ant had worked out a repayment arr pro v i der and failed to fulfill t he agreement. Accordingly, the ministry argued that the appellant was well aware of the ne ed to pay f o r t h e natur a l g as service. The ministry therefore determined that the appellant did not have an unexpected expense for natural gas service and was not eligible for a crisis supplement under section 59 of the EAR. Panel Decision The panel noted that the appellant admitted that she was aware that she had an outstanding balance owing to her natural gas provider. She stated that it was the size of the bill that was unexpected the bill itself. Moreover, the panel noted that the appellant had entered into an agreement with her natural gas provider for a repayment sch edul e but she had failed to make the third and final payment of 175.9 9 on October 1, 2014. Accordingly, the panel concluded that the ministry had reasonably determined that the bill from the natural gas provider was not an unexpected expense. Havinq reviewed and co n sidered all of the ev id ence EAAT 003(10/06/01) AP PEAL# I ably denied the appellan t a cris is supplement utili ty c osts f o r nat ur a l g a s are n ot an stry 's de c ision is reas onably of the legis la tio n i n the circumstances o f to o r f o r a fam i l y unit that i s el igible f o r i ncome res th e su pp lement to m eet an un e xp e c te d is unable to meet the ex p e nse or o bta in the item unit, an d e or ob t ai n the it e m will result in y pe r son in the family unit, or ty S ervice A ct. a nce o wed to t h e na tural ga s sup plier was l a nce from the appell a nt' s pre vio us h e co sts of this service in her present r e st payments, and o ther a s a sked t o pa y was far m ore than she had Sh e sta te d tha t she wa s confu se d by the t h e amount h a d been calcu lated . e rvi c e are not u n e x pected pp e llan t wa s aw are that she had a n from her p revio u s re sid e nce. Fi n ally, the angeme nt with th e nat u ral g as not and th e r elev a nt leqislation, the panel f inds that
APP E AL # '. the m inist ry' s de c ision that t h e appellant wa s not eligible f o r a crisis su p plem e nt wa s a rea s ona ble a pp li c a t i on of t he l egi s lation in the circumst a nc e s of the a p pellant. The pane l there f ore confir m s t he minist r y d e c ision EAAT 003(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.