APPENDIX: CASE LAW SUMMARIES

D: THE DECISION

REED, J. IN CUB 13852 (DALGLEISH)

This requirement for written reasons is designed to serve at least two purposes: to enable a reviewing body (the Umpire or the Federal Court ofAppeal) to know the basis for the reasons why a decision was made. Without such knowledge a claimant's right of appeal is meaningless. And,to give some assurance to the claimant that his position has been listened to and understood - to demonstrate that a fair hearing was held.Statements to the effect that Boards after having examined all the evidenceagree with the Commission's decision do not meet this test. I makereference to two recent comments of Mr. Justice Beetz of the SupremeCourt, albeit in a different context. In Blanchard v. Control Data Canada Lte., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 476 he stated that a failure to provide adequatereasons would constitute a breach of natural justice. In Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 177. Mr. Justice Beetz againcommented on the need for reasons, to demonstrate the basis of thedecision given and to demonstrate that it was made in conformity withfundamental justice.

MARIN, J. IN CUB 31057A (GAGNON)¹

While I do not necessarily want to place the Board's decision under amicroscope, I must admit that I find it rather sparse as concerns thereasons bearing on the credibility of the evidence. The Board did not makea distinction between or reject the items in the file, it did not indicatewhether its appreciation of the hearsay was scant or considerable, and it did not indicate whether the members leaned toward the direct evidencerather than the evidence on file. In fact, the Board's silence on these unanswered questions leaves the reader wanting more and, in my opinion,does not meet the requirements of subsection (2) of section 79. On the contrary, this decision is very much incomplete.

1. Note that the case identifier has been changed from Huguesson, J. in A-3-96 (Gagnon).The passage that follows is actually from the decision by the Umpire (Marin, J.) in CUB 31057A,which Huguesson, J. cites in a Federal Court of Appeal case. -TR

ROULEAU, J. IN CUB 15570 (LOWE)

I also direct the Board of Referees to indicate clearly the reasons for each finding of fact and law made. A bald statement that the Board makes a finding of law or fact without indicating the basis for the finding is not sufficient. I would also like to add that the requirement of sufficiency of reasons given for a decision has nothing to do with their length, it refers exclusively to their content. In my view, this particular Board decision illustrates that six pages of reasons may not be sufficient.

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