Date: 19981202
Docket: A-87-98
MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC, THE 2nd DAY OF DECEMBER 1998
CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRATTE
THE HONOURABLE MADAME JUSTICE DESJARDINS
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DÉCARY
BETWEEN:
SUZIE GAGNÉ
Applicant
AND
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
Respondent
J U D G M E N T
The application for judicial review is dismissed.
Louis Pratte
J.A.
Certified true translation
Peter Douglas
Date: 19981202
Docket: A-87-98
Coram: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRATTE
THE HONOURABLE MADAME JUSTICE DESJARDINS
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DÉCARY
Between: SUZIE GAGNÉ
Applicant
AND:
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
Respondent
Hearing held at Montréal on Wednesday, December 2, 1998
Judgment delivered at Montréal on Wednesday, December 2, 1998
REASONS FOR DECISION BY: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRATTE
Date: 19981202
Docket: A-87-98
CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRATTE
THE HONOURABLE MADAME JUSTICE DESJARDINS
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DÉCARY
BETWEEN: SUZIE GAGNÉ
Applicant
AND
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
Respondent
REASONS FOR DECISION
(Delivered from the bench at Montréal
on Wednesday, December 2, 1998)
PRATTE J.A.
[1] The sole issue this matter raises is whether the Tax Court of Canada was justified in upholding the decision of the Minister of National Revenue, who decided that the applicant's insurable earnings for the period in question do not include the amounts she received from an insurance company under a wage loss insurance contract that the City of Montréal, her employer, had taken out for the benefit of its employees.
[2] In our view, the Tax Court of Canada's decision is sound. However, we cannot agree with its reasons.
[3] Section 2 of the Unemployment Insurance Act defines the expression "insurable earnings" as "earnings from insurable employment . . . of an insured person", and that expression is itself defined as follows in subsection 3(1) of the Unemployment Insurance (Collection of Premiums) Regulations:
3(1)For the purposes of this Part, a person's earnings from insurable employment means any remuneration . . . received or enjoyed by him, paid to him by his employer in respect of insurable employment . . . .
[4] To understand that definition, regard must be had to subsection 2(2) of the same Regulations, which defines the term "employer" thus:
2(2)For the purposes of . . . these Regulations, "employer" includes a person who pays or has paid remuneration or other earnings of an insured person for services performed in insurable employment.
[5] It follows from all of this that a person's insurable earnings may, contrary to what the Tax Court of Canada said, come from someone other than the employer. Nevertheless, those earnings must be paid "for services performed in insurable employment". It is clear that the insurance benefits paid to the applicant were not paid to compensate her for services she had performed in the course of her employment.
[6] The application for judicial review must accordingly be dismissed.
Louis Pratte
J.A.
Certified true translation
Peter Douglas
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
Date: 19981202
Docket: A-87-98
Between: SUZIE GAGNÉ
Applicant
AND
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
Respondent
REASONS FOR DECISION
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT FILE NO.: A-87-98
STYLE OF CAUSE: SUZIE GAGNÉ
Applicant
AND
MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: December 2, 1998
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRATTE, THE HONOURABLE MADAME JUSTICE DESJARDINS AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DÉCARY)
DELIVERED FROM THE BENCH BY: Pratte J.A.
DATED: December 2, 1998
APPEARANCES: Suzie Gagné the applicant
Valérie Tardif for the respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Suzie Gagné the applicant
Montréal, Quebec
Morris Rosenberg for the respondent
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Montréal, Quebec
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