Xinos v. Canada ( Attorney General )
A-212-96
Strayer J.A.
19/3/97
2 pp.
Application for judicial review of Pension Appeal Board decision requirement, for eligibility for disability benefits, claimants must have made contributions in recent years prior to claim not in violation of Charter, s. 15-Application dismissed-Fact "recency" test applied to disabled claimants but not to other claimants under Plan not discrimination within meaning of Charter, s. 15-Equality not requiring every beneficiary under income replacement scheme under Canada Pension Plan be entitled to identical benefits or identical conditions of eligibility-Not surprising that scheme designed to replace loss of employment income due to disability requiring some evidence of recent employment even if could be other methods for allocating such benefits-If recent Supreme Court cases might be interpreted to indicate discrimination must nevertheless be found, Board did not err in finding justification under Charter, s. 1-Objective of maintaining viable income replacement program legitimate and Board could conclude eligibility requirements in question reasonably related to objective-Courts and tribunals should not be quick to secondguess judgments of Parliament as to proper criteria for various benefits under social programs-Canada Pension Plan, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-8,-Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, being Part 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Schedule B, Canada Act 1982, 1982, c. 11 (U.K.) [R.S.C., 1985, Appendix II, No. 44], ss. 1, 15.