Date: 19991105
Docket: 98-1082-UI
BETWEEN:
ANNE JEFFREY,
Appellant,
and
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE,
Respondent.
Reasons for Judgment
Lesage, D.J.T.C.C.
[1] This appeal was heard at Québec, Quebec, on October 8, 1999.
[2] No witnesses were called by the parties.
[3] Counsel for the appellant based his argument on subsection 90(2) of the Employment Insurance Act, which reads as follows in French:
La Commission peut faire la demande de décision à tout moment, et toute autre personne, avant le 30 juin suivant l'année à laquelle la question est liée.
The English version provides that:
The Commission may request a ruling at any time, but a request by any other person must be made before the June 30 following the year to which the question relates.
[4] The entire argument turns on the presence of a comma in the French text which does not exist in the English.
[5] Subsection 90(2) of the Employment Insurance Act sets a time limit for any person other than the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission to request a ruling from a Revenue Canada official. The request must be made before the June 30 following the year to which the question relates.
[6] The appellant argues that the Commission is bound by this time limit, whereas the statutory provision states the contrary.
[7] The appellant submits that the Commission is bound by the time limit and that, as the request was made to the Revenue Canada official after the prescribed time period, it was null and void and inadmissible.
[8] The statutory provision is clear and unambiguous in both languages. Parliament clearly excluded the Commission from the time limit it imposes on everyone, comma or no comma.
[9] As to the Court's jurisdiction to rule on the point at issue, it is necessary for me to do so since the parties consented thereto in their argument.
[10] The appeal is dismissed and the decision of the Minister of National Revenue is confirmed.
Signed at Sillery, Quebec, this 5th day of November 1999.
"A.J. Lesage"
D.J.T.C.C.
[OFFICIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION]
Translation certified true on this 6th day of September 2000.
Erich Klein, Revisor