Date: 19991119
Docket: A-539-98
CORAM: STONE, J.A.
ISAAC, J.A.
SEXTON, J.A.
BETWEEN:
TERRANCE HAMILTON HALL
Appellant
- and -
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Respondent
Heard at Toronto, Ontario, on Thursday, November 18, 1999
Judgment Delivered at Toronto, Ontario
on Friday, November 19, 1999
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY: SEXTON J.A.
CONCURRED IN BY: STONE J.A.
ISAAC J.A.
Date: 19991119
Docket: A-539-98
CORAM: STONE, J.A.
ISAAC, J.A.
SEXTON, J.A.
BETWEEN:
TERRANCE HAMILTON HALL
Appellant
- and -
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
SEXTON J.A.
I.
The appellant appeals from a decision of Madame Justice Reed who dismissed his application for judicial review of the decision of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board dated September 5, 1997.
II. The appellant served in the armed forces for approximately one year in 1983-84. He has claimed a disability pension arising out of an accident which he states that he had during that period. He did not report the accident nor seek medical attention at that time and on discharge he appears to have signed a statement that he had not suffered any injury. There was no medical examination report on the appellant"s accident on file when he left the service. Four years after his discharge, he sought medical attention for a whip lash injury which he now contends was the result of his accident while in the service. The doctors who provided medical reports did not examine him until almost 12 years after his discharge and were unable to conclude that the injury arose out of or was directly connected with the appellant"s service in the forces.
III. The appellant applied to the Minister of Veterans Affairs for a disability pension, and on September 4, 1996 the appellant"s application was refused with the Minister concluding:
| ... The department has concluded that your cervical disk disease diagnosed in 1996 is post-discharge in origin and therefore not pensionable. |
IV. The appellant pursued this matter then before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and in its decision of January 22, 1997 it refused to award a disability pension and said:
| ... the fact that his seeking medical attention in 1987-88 suggests that the disability is post-discharge in origin and not related to his Reserve force service. |
V. The appellant then sought a review of that decision before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and it confirmed its previous decision on June 9, 1997. The Board said:
| This Board based on the evidence before it, is unable to conclude that the claimed condition of cervical disk disease is attributable to or was incurred during Mr. Hall"s relatively short one year reserve force service. |
| ... |
| This Board is faced with no evidence to support an award of pension. |
VI. The appellant then sought a further reconsideration of this decision by the Board and on September 5, 1997 the Board again dismissed the appellant"s request. The appellant then sought judicial review before Madame Justice Reed who dismissed the application.
VII. The Learned Motions Judge quite properly held that in order to allow the appellant"s application she would have to find that the decision below was based on error of law or on an erroneous finding of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard to the material before the Board.1
VIII. The Learned Motions Judge carefully reviewed the relevant statutory provisions, the factual findings of the Board and the rest of the record in order to determine whether the decision of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board was wrong or had been arrived at on an incorrect basis. We can find no error in her conclusions.
IX. This appeal will therefore be dismissed.
"J. E. Sexton"
J.A.
"I agree
A.J. Stone"
"I agree
Julius A. Isaac"
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: A-539-98 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: TERRANCE HAMILTON HALL |
Appellant
| - and - |
| ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA |
Respondent
| DATE OF HEARING: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1999 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY: SEXTON J.A. |
Delivered at Toronto, Ontario
on Friday, November 19, 1999
| APPEARANCES: Mr. Terrance Hamilton Hall |
| For the Appellant on his own behalf |
| Ms. Sadian Campbell |
| For the Respondent |
| SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Terrance Hamilton Hall |
Suite 101, 2510 Ouellette Avenue
| Windsor, Ontario |
| N8X 1L4 |
| For the Appellant on his own behalf |
| Morris Rosenberg |
| Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
| For the Respondent |
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19991119
Docket: A-539-98
Between:
| TERRANCE HAMILTON HALL |
Appellant
| - and - |
| ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA |
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
__________________
1 She relied on Lalonde v. Canada (Veterans Appeal Board) , June 21, 1995, T-224-94 (F.C.T.D.) and Johnson v. Canada (Minister of Veterans Affairs) (1990) 108 Imm.R. 306 (F.C.A.).