Court of Appeal

CASE NO.                                                                                                                        VOL. NO.                                                                                                                                   PAGE

Cite as: Way v. Covert, 1997 NSCA 99

JEAN WAY                                                                                                   - and -                                                                                               ROBERT COVERT, DOROTHY

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           HENDERSON, and JOANNE KING, in

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            their capacity as a Social Assistance

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Appeal Board, and BILL CAMPBELL,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             in his capacity as Director of Family

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Benefits

(Appellant)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (Respondents)

C.A. No.132095                                                                                                 Halifax, N.S.                                                                                                             Pugsley, J.A.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Flinn, J.A.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   (concurring by separate reasons)

APPEAL HEARD:                                                                                         January 24, 1997

JUDGMENT DELIVERED:                                                                   May 13, 1997

SUBJECT:                                   Statutory Interpretation

SUMMARY:                            The Family Benefits Act, R.S.N.S., 1989, c.158, gives broad regulatory power to the Governor in Council. In 1994 the Governor in Council passed regulations restricting persons in need, who qualified under the Act, from receiving shelter benefits, if the income of a relative with whom the person in need resided, exceeded a certain amount. The Director of Family Benefits dismissed an appeal brought by the appellant who alleged the elimination of her shelter allowance was not authorized under the Act. The Director's decision was upheld by the Social Assistance Appeal Board. The Chambers judge dismissed the appellant's application for an order in the nature of a certiorari.   The appellant appealed.

RESULT:                                      The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal.  Flinn, J.A., with whom Hart, J.A. concurred, concluded that the 1994 Regulations imposed a standard of eligibility for benefits inconsistent with the standards set out in the Act.  Pugsley, J.A., concluded that the Act did not expressly authorize, or create by necessary implication, the right to discriminate between family benefit recipients who live with relatives and those who did not, and hence the 1994 Regulations were not authorized.