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Court Orders Feds to Reconsider Canadian Forces Housing Compensation Policy
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May 26, 2014
On May 23, 2014 the Federal Court of Canada decided the Federal Treasury Board Secretariat’s interpretation of the policy for compensating Canadian Forces members who lose money on the sale of a house due to a posting was unreasonable.
McInnes Cooper’s Dan Wallace represented Canadian Forces Major Marcus Brauer in the first Canadian court challenge of the Treasury Board’s interpretation of this policy. Major Brauer lost $88,000 when he was reposted and forced to sell his home in Bon Accord, Alberta (40 km north of Edmonton). The policy says the Secretariat will reimburse members who sell their home at a loss for 100% of the loss – if the Secretariat decides the member’s “community” is in a “depressed market”. The Secretariat denied Major Brauer’s request for full reimbursement of the loss on the basis his “community” was the entire Edmonton Metropolitan Area, which was not “depressed”
The Court decided the Secretariat’s interpretation of Major Brauer’s “community” was unreasonable. It ordered the Secretariat to reconsider Major Brauer’s request using Bon Accord as his “community”. The Court also ordered the Federal Government to reimburse Major Bauer for 100% of his legal costs – a higher scale than that which courts normally order.
Click here to read a copy of the Federal Court’s May 23, 2014 decision.
Click here to see Global National’s May 25, 2014 report.
Click here to read the CBC News’ May 26, 2014 report.
Click here to read the Herald News’ May 25, 2014 report.
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