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Date: 20031124

Docket: A-665-02

Citation: 2003 FCA 443

CORAM:        LINDEN J.A.

SEXTON J.A.                         

MALONE J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                          JAMES MIKE LAZOWSKI

                                                                                                                                                       Applicant

                                                                                 and

                                          THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE

                                                                                                                                                   Respondent

                                      Heard at Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 24, 2003.

             Judgment delivered from the Bench at Winnipeg, Manitoba, on November 24, 2003.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY:                                                                                    MALONE J.A.


Date: 20031124

Docket: A-665-02

Citation: 2003 FCA 443

CORAM:        LINDEN J.A.

SEXTON J.A.                         

MALONE J.A.

BETWEEN:

                                                          JAMES MIKE LAZOWSKI

                                                                                                                                                       Applicant

                                                                                 and

                                          THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL REVENUE

                                                                                                                                                   Respondent

                                                        REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

                      (Delivered from the Bench at Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 24, 2003)

MALONE J.A.

[1]                 This is an application for judicial review in respect of a decision made by Deputy Tax Court Judge D.W. Rowe dated July 29, 2002 (and reported as [2002] T.C.J. No. 517). Deputy Judge Rowe held that Mr. Lazowski was not engaged in pensionable or insurable employment with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (the Committee) within the meaning of the Canada Pension Plan or the Employment Insurance Act respectively.


[2]                 The applicant has not identified any reviewable error of fact or law which would warrant the intervention of this Court. Deputy Judge Rowe thoroughly summarized the testimony of both Mr. Lazowski and the Committee manager and reviewed the relevant case law in detail. In particular the importance of the contract of service with the Committee was considered in accordance with the recent decision of this Court in Poulin v. Canada [2003] F.C.J. No. 141 (F.C.A.) at paragraph 12. The Deputy Judge then correctly applied the case law to the facts as he had found them.

[3]                 In Elia v. Canada reported as [1998] F.C.J. No. 316 this Court stated at paragraph [3]:

"[T]he allegation in the reply to the notice of appeal, in which the Minister states the facts on which he based his decision, must be assumed to be true as long as the applicant has not proven them false".

[4]                 In this case, the applicant has failed to disprove the Minister's assumptions.

[5]                 We would dismiss the application for judicial review but without costs.

                                                                                               "B. Malone"                  

                                                                                                              J.A.    

Winnipeg, Manitoba

November 24, 2003


                          FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

    NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD

DOCKET:                                                           A-665-02

STYLE OF CAUSE:                                        James Mike Lazowski v. The Minister of National Revenue

                                                         

PLACE OF HEARING:                                                Winnipeg, Manitoba

DATE OF HEARING:                                                  November 24, 2003

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT: LINDEN J.A., SEXTON J.A., MALONE J.A.

DELIVERED FROM THE BENCH BY:     MALONE J.A.

APPEARANCES:

James Mike Lazowski

ON HIS OWN BEHALF

Michael van Dam

Department of Justice

301 - 310 Broadway

Winnipeg, MB R3C 0S6

FOR THE RESPONDENT

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:

James Mike Lazowski

ON HIS OWN BEHALF

Morris Rosenberg

Deputy Attorney General of Canada

FOR THE RESPONDENT



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