It is common for the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MTESS) to bring you to the local employment centre to obtain a declaration from you.
The declaration can also be obtained by telephone and may relate to a marital life situation, undeclared work income, repetitive donations, or other investigative situation.
A simple statement that becomes an incriminating confession
What you need to know, and what the welfare officer fails to tell you, is that this statement will be used as evidence against you in the future. As soon as you receive a summons from social assistance, it is important to contact our office to receive legal advice on your rights and obligations.
The Ministry will tell you that you are required to make a declaration under your duty to inform under section 30 of the Individual and Family Assistance Act. In addition, he will inform you that otherwise, your benefits will be cancelled or that a decision will be made in your file, regardless of your version.
A violation of constitutional Charter rights
The Administrative Tribunal of Québec (
TAQ
) has stated in several decisions that in administrative law, investigators have no duty to inform claimants of their right to have recourse to a lawyer as part of their investigation.
However, we maintain our position that everyone has the right against self-incrimination. Regardless of the subjects dealt with, our firm is committed to informing and educating the public about their rights and obligations; it is an intrinsic question of value.
We believe that there is always a right and wrong way to do things. In our professional opinion, failure to warn a person that his or her statements may be used against him or her constitutes a lack of ethics; behaviour that we cannot condone.
Some principles of fundamental justice do not apply systematically, but rather discretionarily to social assistance recipients, such as:
- the right to silence;
- the right to a lawyer;
- the right against self-incrimination;
- and the right to privacy.
As soon as a claimant applies for social assistance, he or she loses some of his or her rights.
The free and voluntary aspect of a statement made to the officer
Is a statement free and voluntary when a person is told that if they do not respond, they will have their cheque cut off because they are not complying with their obligation to provide information under the Act?
In one judgment, the Tribunal found that the statement was valid and that the local employment centre officer did not have to inform a claimant of his right to counsel since there was no criminal detention.
If in doubt, contact our office for legal advice. Our firm is and will always be standing up for the fundamental values that must govern our entire rule of law.
For legal information, you must obtain a legal aid mandate for a consultation or the hourly rate applies.
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