Date: 20051025
Docket: A-116-05
Citation: 2005 FCA 351
CORAM: DESJARDINS J.A.
EVANS J.A.
MALONE J.A.
BETWEEN:
ALLAN C. CONKIN
Applicant
and
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Respondent
Heard at Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 25, 2005.
Judgment delivered from the Bench at Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 25, 2005.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: DESJARDINS J.A.
Date: 20051025
Docket: A-116-05
Citation: 2005 FCA 351
CORAM: DESJARDINS J.A.
EVANS J.A.
MALONE J.A.
BETWEEN:
ALLAN C. CONKIN
Applicant
and
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Delivered from the Bench at Vancouver, British Columbia on October 25, 2005)
[1] This is an application for judicial review of the decision of the Pension Appeals Board (the "Board") which held that a division of unadjusted pensionable earnings which affected the applicant had been carried out by the respondent in accordance with the applicable statutory provision of the Canada Pension Plan R.S.C. 1985, c. 30 (2nd Supp.) (the Plan). Since the divorce was pronounced July 15, 1994, the applicable provision was paragraph 55.1(1)(a), as it stood at that time.
[2] Subsection 51.1(1) of the Plan reads as follows:
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55.1 (1) Subject to this section and sections 55.2, a division of unadjusted pensionable earnings shall take place in the following circumstances:
(a) following the issuance of a decree absolute of divorce, a judgment granting a divorce under the Divorce Act or a judgment of nullity of a marriage, on the Minister's being informed of the decree or judgment, as the case may be, and receiving the prescribed information relating to the marriage in question;
(b) following the approval by the Minister of an application made by or on behalf of either spouse or his estate, if
(i) the spouses have been living separate and apart for a period of one year or more, and
(ii) in the event of the death of one of the spouses after they have been living separate and apart for a period or one year or more the application is made within three years after the death; and
(c) following the approval by the Minister of an application made by or on behalf of either former spouse, within the meaning of subparagraph (a)(ii) of the definition of "spouse" in subsection 2(1), or his estate if
(i) the former spouses have been living separate and apart for a period of one year or more, or
(ii) one of the former spouses has died during that period.
and the application is made within four years after the day on which the former spouses commenced to live separate and apart.
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55.1 (1) Sous réserve des autres dispositions du présent article et de l'article 55.2, il doit y avoir partage des gains non ajustés ouvrant droit à pension dans les circonstances suivantes :
a) lorsque est rendu un jugement irrévocable de divorce, un jugement accordant un divorce conformément à la Loi sur le divorce ou un jugement en nullité de mariage, dès que le ministre est informé du jugement et dès qu'il reçoit les renseignements prescrits concernant le mariage en question;
b) à la suite de l'approbation par le ministre d'une demande de l'un ou l'autre des conjoints ou des ayants droit de l'un ou l'autre de ces derniers, ou de leur part, si :
(i) les conjoints ont vécu séparément durant une période d'au moins un an,
(ii) dans les cas où l'un des conjoints meurt après que les conjoints en question ont vécu séparément durant une période d'au moins un an, la demande est faite dans les trois ans du décès;
c) à la suite de l'approbation par le ministre d'une demande de l'un ou l'autre des anciens conjoints - au sens du sous-alinéa a)(ii) de la définition de « conjoint » au paragraphe 2(1) -, ou de leur par, ou encore d'une demande des ayants droit de l'un ou l'autre des anciens conjoints, ou de leur part, dans les cas où :
(i) soit les anciens conjoints ont vécu séparément pendant une période d'au moins un an,
(ii) soit l'un des anciens conjoints est décédé pendant cette période,
et si la demande est faite dans les quatre ans suivant le jour où les anciens conjoints ont commencé à vivre séparément.
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[3] Paragraph 55.1(1)(a) provides a mandatory credit splitting on the Minister being informed of the decree or judgment received together with the prescribed information. There is no time limit set for the prescribed information to be sent.
[4] The Board quoted the present version of subsection 55.1(1) presently in force, which was enacted in 2000, but the reasoning of the Board is equally applicable to the version in force at the time the divorce was pronounced.
[5] There is no validity in the applicant's argument that, because it is indented, the wording of paragraph 55.1(1)(c) in fine, sets a condition which applies to paragraphs 55.1(1)(a), (b) and (c). This last paragraph 55.1(1)(c) in fine only applies to paragraph 55.1(1)(c).
[6] This application for judicial review will be dismissed. The respondent is not asking for costs.
(Sgd.) "Alice Desjardins"
J.A.
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: A-116-05
STYLE OF CAUSE: Allan C. Conkin v. Attorney General for Canada
PLACE OF HEARING: Vancouver, B.C.
DATE OF HEARING: October 25, 2005
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT: DESJARDINS, EVANS , MALONE JJ.A.
REASONS READ FROM THE BENCH BY: DESJARDINS J.A.
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Allan C. Conkin FOR THE APPELLANT
(on his own behalf)
Mr. John Vaissi Nagy FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
FOR THE APPELLANT
John Sims, Q.C. FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General for Canada