VETERANS |
Whitehead v. Canada (Attorney General)
T-2260-01
2003 FCT 75, Gibson J.
24/1/03
18 pp.
Judicial review of Veterans Review and Appeal Board (Board) decision that Joan T. Whitehead (applicant) not entitled to pension benefit as surviving spouse of late veteran, Paul V. Whitehead--Husband served in Royal Canadian Navy, Reserve, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Armed Forces between October 1945 and July 1982 --In November of 1999, applied for disability pension--On June 29, 2000, three days after Mr. Whitehead's death, Department of Veterans Affairs denied application for disability pension, despite acknowledging opinion of Mr. Whitehead's family doctor as to possible causal relationship between cancer and radiation exposure--Whether Board erred in determining evidence before it not sufficient to establish Mr. Whitehead's fatal illness causally connected to radiation exposure during military service--Whether reasons provided by Board sufficient to support decision regarding insufficiency of evidence--In Silver v. Canada (Attorney General) (1996), 112 F.T.R. 292 (F.C.T.D.), Court noted Board must give clear reasons demonstrating rational connection between statutory provisions, evidence presented and conclusion reached--In present case, Board's decision made no link between Board's understanding of evidence before it and relevant legislative provisions other than to proclaim Board had carefully reviewed all evidence and complied fully with statutory obligation to resolve any doubt in weighing of evidence in favour of applicant--Proclamations simply not good enough; proclamations do not even come close to fulfilling Board's obligation to give clear reasons demonstrating rational connection between statutory provi-sions, evidence presented and conclusion reached--Decision referred back to Board for reconsideration and redetermination by differently constituted panel--Application allowed.