Date: 19991105
Docket: 98-1082-UI
BETWEEN:
ANNE JEFFREY,
Appellant,
and
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE,
Respondent.
Reasons for Judgment
Lesage, D.J.T.C.C.
[1] This appeal was heard at Québec, Quebec, on
October 8, 1999.
[2] No witnesses were called by the parties.
[3] Counsel for the appellant based his argument on
subsection 90(2) of the Employment Insurance Act,
which reads as follows in French:
La Commission peut faire la demande de décision
à tout moment, et toute autre personne, avant le 30 juin
suivant l'année à laquelle la question est
liée.
The English version provides that:
The Commission may request a ruling at any time, but a request
by any other person must be made before the June 30 following the
year to which the question relates.
[4] The entire argument turns on the presence of a comma in
the French text which does not exist in the English.
[5] Subsection 90(2) of the Employment Insurance
Act sets a time limit for any person other than the Canada
Employment and Immigration Commission to request a ruling from a
Revenue Canada official. The request must be made before the
June 30 following the year to which the question
relates.
[6] The appellant argues that the Commission is bound by this
time limit, whereas the statutory provision states the
contrary.
[7] The appellant submits that the Commission is bound by the
time limit and that, as the request was made to the Revenue
Canada official after the prescribed time period, it was null and
void and inadmissible.
[8] The statutory provision is clear and unambiguous in both
languages. Parliament clearly excluded the Commission from the
time limit it imposes on everyone, comma or no comma.
[9] As to the Court's jurisdiction to rule on the point at
issue, it is necessary for me to do so since the parties
consented thereto in their argument.
[10] The appeal is dismissed and the decision of the Minister
of National Revenue is confirmed.
Signed at Sillery, Quebec, this 5th day of November 1999.
"A.J. Lesage"
D.J.T.C.C.
[OFFICIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Translation certified true on this 6th day of September
2000.
Erich Klein, Revisor
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