Singer v. Canada (Attorney General), (2010) 370 F.T.R. 121 (FC)

• Judge: Gauthier, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: May 19, 2010
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2010), 370 F.T.R. 121 (FC);2010 FC 607

Singer v. Can. (A.G.) (2010), 370 F.T.R. 121 (FC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2010] F.T.R. TBEd. JN.002

Sandra Amy Grace Singer (applicant) v. Attorney General of Canada (respondent)

(T-1602-09; 2010 FC 607)

Indexed As: Singer v. Canada (Attorney General)

Federal Court

Gauthier, J.

June 4, 2010.

Summary:

Singer applied for judicial review of the decision of the Review Tribunal dismissing her appeal in respect of two reconsideration decisions of the Minister of Human Resources Development denying her entitlement to a full pension under the Old Age Security Act.

The Federal Court dismissed the application.

Government Programs - Topic 1624

Old age pensions - Application - Eligibility - Residence requirements - Section 3(1)(b)(i) of the Old Age Security Act provided that a full monthly pension could be paid to every person who on July 1, 1977 was not a pensioner but had attained 25 years of age and resided in Canada or, if that person did not reside in Canada, had resided in Canada for any period after attaining 18 years of age or possessed a valid immigration visa - Singer was born in Jamaica in 1943 - She lived in the United States from 1960 to 1964 to go to college - She then lived in Jamaica until 1976 when she and her family decided to immigrate to Canada - In May 1977, Singer's husband and children received medical clearance - Singer was cleared or received confirmation that she had passed the medical assessment on or about July 20-21, 1977 - Singer became a Canadian citizen in 1982 - In 2007, she applied for an old age pension - She was advised that as of November 23, 2007, she had lived in Canada for 30 years, 343 days after her 18th birthday and would be eligible for a full old age pension in 2018 and was eligible for partial old age security pension as early as July 2008 - Singer applied for a reconsideration, which was denied because she did not meet the eligibility requirements of s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act - A second reconsideration application was also denied - Singer's appeal to the Review Tribunal (RT) was dismissed on the basis that Singer did not qualify for a full pension as she did not meet the requirement of s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act - Singer applied for judicial review, asserting that the RT erred in law, inter alia, (1) by applying the wrong test to determined whether she "resided in Canada" under s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act; (2) in construing the words "possessed a valid immigration visa" in s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act; and (3) in construing the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Jamaica with respect to Social Security - The Federal Court dismissed the application - The RT made no error of law that would justify quashing the decision - See paragraphs 21 to 63.

Government Programs - Topic 1624

Old age pensions - Application - Eligibility - Residence requirements - Section 3(1)(b)(i) of the Old Age Security Act provided that a full monthly pension could be paid to every person who on July 1, 1977 was not a pensioner but had attained 25 years of age and resided in Canada or, if that person did not reside in Canada, had resided in Canada for any period after attaining 18 years of age or possessed a valid immigration visa - Singer was born in Jamaica in 1943 - She lived in the United States from 1960 to 1964 to go to college - She then lived in Jamaica until 1976 when she and her family decided to immigrate to Canada - In May 1977, Singer's husband and children received medical clearance - Singer was cleared or received confirmation that she had passed the medical assessment on or about July 20-21, 1977 - Singer became a Canadian citizen in 1982 - In 2007, she applied for an old age pension - She was advised that as of November 23, 2007, she had lived in Canada for 30 years, 343 days after her 18th birthday and would be eligible for a full old age pension in 2018 and was eligible for partial old age security pension as early as July 2008 - Singer applied for a reconsideration, which was denied because she did not meet the eligibility requirements of s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act - A second reconsideration application was also denied - Singer's appeal to the Review Tribunal (RT) was dismissed on the basis that Singer did not qualify for a full pension as she did not meet the requirement of s. 3(1)(b)(i) of the Act - Singer applied for judicial review - The Federal Court dismissed the application, holding that the RT's decision was reasonable - Despite the typos and other flaws raised by Singer, the decision read as a whole and in the context of the arguments made by the parties, the reasoning of the decision-maker and why it reached its decision was sufficiently clear and cogent to meet the applicable standard of review - Singer had not satisfied the court that there was a reviewable error - The court, like the RT, might not have dealt with each and everyone of the many arguments and comments made by Singer but the court considered them all and those not mentioned were not worth mentioning, as they were not accepted by the court - See paragraphs 74 to 82.

Cases Noticed:

New Brunswick (Board of Management) v. Dunsmuir, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190; 372 N.R. 1; 329 N.B.R.(2d) 1; 844 A.P.R. 1; 2008 SCC 9, refd to. [para. 17].

Khosa v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2009] 1 S.C.R. 339; 385 N.R. 206; 304 D.L.R.(4th) 1; 2009 SCC 12, refd to. [para. 17].

Canada (Minister of Human Resources Development) v. Stiel, [2006] 4 F.C.R. 489; 290 F.T.R. 271; 2006 FC 466, refd to. [para. 17].

Housen v. Nikolaisen et al., [2002] 2 S.C.R. 235; 286 N.R. 1; 219 Sask.R. 1; 272 W.A.C. 1; 2002 SCC 33, dist. [para. 17, footnote 5].

Canada (Minister of Human Resources Development) v. Chhabu (2005), 280 F.T.R. 296; 2005 FC 1277, refd to. [para. 18].

VIA Rail Canada Inc. v. National Transportation Agency et al., [2001] 2 F.C. 25; 261 N.R. 184: 193 D.L.R.(4th) 357 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

Florea v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1993] F.C.J. No. 598 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

Cepeda-Gutierrez et al. v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (1998), 157 F.T.R. 35; 83 A.C.W.S.(3d) 264 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 20].

Rizzo & Rizzo Shoes Ltd. (Bankrupt), Re, [1998] 1 S.C.R. 27; 221 N.R. 241; 106 O.A.C. 1; 154 D.L.R.(4th) 193, refd to. [para. 22].

Stachowski v. Canada (Attorney General) (2005), 282 F.T.R. 99; 2005 FC 1435, refd to. [para. 25].

Canada (Minister of Human Resources Development) v. Ding (2005), 268 F.T.R. 111; 2005 FC 76, dist. [para. 31].

Pawar v. Canada (1999), 247 N.R. 271; 67 C.R.R.(2d) 284 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 38, footnote 14].

Shergill v. Canada (2003), 313 N.R. 377; 2003 FCA 468, refd to. [para. 38, footnote 14].

Espaillat-Rodriguez v. Canada, [1964] S.C.R. 3, refd to. [para. 53, footnote 19].

Podlaszecka v. Canada (Minister of Manpower and Immigration), [1972] S.C.R. 733, refd to. [para. 53, footnote 19].

Ata v. Canada (1985), 62 N.R. 42 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 61].

Ahani v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2002] 1 S.C.R. 72; 280 N.R. 201; 2002 SCC 2, refd to. [para. 73].

Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. et al. v. Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 202; 163 N.R. 27; 115 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 334; 360 A.P.R. 334, refd to. [para. 73].

Statutes Noticed:

Old Age Security Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. O-9, sect. 3(1)(b) [Annex A].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Canada, Hansard, House of Commons Debates (March 9, 1977), p. 3813 [para. 29, footnote 10].

Canada, Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs, Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, No. 23 (February 24, 1977), pp. 23:18 [para. 24, footnote 7]; 23:20 [para. 25, footnote 8].

Driedger, Elmer A., Construction of Statutes (2nd Ed. 1983), p. 87 [para. 22].

Hansard - see Canada, Hansard, House of Commons Debates.

Sullivan, Ruth, Sullivan on the Construction of Statutes (5th Ed. 2008), pp. 593, 609 to 612 [para. 22, footnote 6]; 613 [para. 22].

Counsel:

Derek A. Singer, for the applicant;

Allan Matte, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Derek A. Singer, Edmonton, Alberta, for the applicant;

Myles J. Kirvan, Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondent.

This application was heard on May 19, 2010, at Edmonton, Alberta, by Gauthier, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following judgment on June 4, 2010.