Minimal duty of procedural fairness required applicant to know case to meet

NATURAL JUSTICE

Minimal duty of procedural fairness required applicant to know case to meet

Applicant was offered position of employment with Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) that was conditional on her obtaining secret security clearance before commencing position and top secret security clearance after commencing employment. Applicant obtained secret security clearance and began employment. FINTRAC refused to issue top secret security clearance to applicant and revoked her secret security clearance, her reliability status and her appointment to position with FINTRAC. Applicant was not given notice of concerns leading to denial of security status and was not provided opportunity to address concerns. Three letters were sent to applicant advising her of redress mechanisms. Applicant was provided with letters from Director of FINTRAC and redacted report from Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Applicant sought judicial review. Application allowed. Decisions to deny top secret status and to revoke secret and reliability status were quashed and sent back to director for redetermination. Decisions denying and revoking security status were administrative decisions. Applicant was owed minimal duty of procedural fairness. Director did not meet duty of fairness. Minimal duty of procedural fairness required applicant to know case to meet and to be given opportunity to respond before final decision was made. Applicant should have known nature of security concerns, but she was not provided with any opportunity to respond. Decision to revoke applicant’s appointment as employee of FINTRAC was governed by contract law and no duty of procedural fairness applied to such decision.
Koulatchenko v. Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Mar. 3, 2014, F.C., Catherine M. Kane J., File No. T-2252-12) 238 A.C.W.S. (3d) 28