A-715-95
MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC, THIS 29th DAY OF JANUARY 1997
CORAM: THE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MARCEAU
THE
HONOURABLE MADAME JUSTICE DESJARDINS
THE
HONOURABLE DEPUTY JUSTICE CHEVALIER
BETWEEN: RÉJEAN
TURGEON,
Applicant,
AND:
CANADA
EMPLOYMENT AND
IMMIGRATION
COMMISSION,
Respondent.
J
U D G M E N T
The application for judicial
review is dismissed.
Louis Marceau
J.A.
Certified true translation
C. Delon, LL.L.
A-715-95
CORAM: MARCEAU J.A.
DESJARDINS J.A.
CHEVALIER D.J.
BETWEEN:
RÉJEAN
TURGEON,
Applicant,
-
and -
CANADA
EMPLOYMENT AND
IMMIGRATION
COMMISSION,
Respondent.
Hearing held at Montréal, Quebec, on Wednesday, January
29, 1997.
Judgment delivered from the bench at on Wednesday,
January 29, 1997.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: MARCEAU
J.A.
A-715-95
CORAM: MARCEAU J.A.
DESJARDINS
J.A.
CHEVALIER D.J.
BETWEEN:
RÉJEAN
TURGEON,
Applicant,
-
and -
CANADA EMPLOYMENT
AND
IMMIGRATION
COMMISSION,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE
COURT
(Delivered from the bench at
Montréal, Quebec,
on Wednesday,
January 29, 1997)
MARCEAU J.A.
We are of the opinion that this
application for review cannot succeed.
A penalty was imposed on the
applicant, a construction worker, by the Commission, under subsection 33(1) of
the Unemployment Insurance Act, for making false statements in support
of his claims for benefit, by failing to report substantial earnings that he
received from his employer over a period of some weeks. The Board of Referees
confirmed the Commission's determination and the umpire declined to intervene.
The applicant repeated in this Court what he had said before the Board of
Referees and the umpire: that while he did make statements that he knew to be
false, he did so because he did not want to reveal the "banking"
system that his employer had forced him to participate in, under which he would
be paid for his overtime on the same basis as ordinary time, during the weeks
when he was not working. If he had revealed that fact, he says, he would
certainly have lost his chance of being re-employed by that employer.
Accordingly, he complains that the umpire did not agree to find that the
"coercion" under which he was acting went to the very heart of the
situation that must exist, under subsection 33(1), if penalties are to be
imposed, that is, that he must have made statements that he "knew to be
false". He says that the umpire applied the word "knew", and
the reasons that a claimant can present as justification to avoid being
penalized, in an extreme and too narrow manner.
The complaint that the applicant
addresses to the umpire is not deserved. Once it is established that the
requirements for subsection 33(1) to apply have been met, that is, that the
statements were contrary to the truth and that the person who made those
statements knew that full well, a fine must be imposed. The situation in which
the statements were made may operate as mitigating circumstances in determining
the quantum of the penalty, but it is up to the Commission or the Board of
Referees to decide this, not the umpire.
The application made must be
dismissed.
"Louis Marceau"
J.A.
Certified true translation
C. Delon, LL.L.
FEDERAL COURT OF
CANADA
A-715-95
BETWEEN:
RÉJEAN TURGEON,
Applicant,
- and -
CANADA EMPLOYMENT AND
IMMIGRATION COMMISSION,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
OF THE COURT
FEDERAL
COURT OF APPEAL
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT FILE NO: A-715-97
STYLE OF CAUSE: Réjean
Turgeon v. Employment
and
Immigration Commission
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal,
Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: Wednesday,
January 29, 1997
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
OF THE COURT: Marceau
J.A.
Desjardins
J.A.
Chevalier
J.A.
DELIVERED FROM THE BENCH BY: Marceau
J.A.
APPEARANCES:
Denis Falardeau for
the applicant
Francisco Couto for
the respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Leduc, Simard, Cliche, Duchesne & Associés
Québec, Quebec for
the applicant
George Thomson
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario for
the respondent
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