Meet the woman who shook New Brunswick's right-to-information policy

Grace Belliveau didn't set out to become a right-to-information champion.

But social-justice advocates say she has scored an important victory not just for herself but for other New Brunswickers who want to challenge provincial decisions on their social assistance benefits.

With the help of a legal appeal by New Brunswick's recently-retired integrity commissioner, Belliveau won the right to see an investigation report into her own case and may have shifted provincial policy in the process.

"I think it's a good idea to show investigation reports to applicants," she said in an interview inMoncton.

"If they want citizens and applicants to be transparent and forthcoming, and notscamming, maybe they should model the same behaviour back and foster a culture of transparency."

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The province's default approach of refusing to release reports will now change, the department says.

Dave MacLean, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, says as a result of the legal challenge, the department "reviewed its approach and interpretation of the legislation in relation to this type of request" and had adopted "a different approach."

Reports will generally be released until legislation prevents it, though private information that identifies other people will be redacted, he said.

Vaughn Barnett, a Fredericton-area advocate who supports low-income people challenging government decisions, says Belliveau should be proud of what she accomplished.

"Given their disadvantaged circumstances, clients are often not in a position to assert their rights, let alone make a social change, but here we have seen that, with a little support, they can do just that," he said.

Claude Snow, a former provincial social worker who left his job in 1992 to advocate for low-income people, says lack of access to investigation reports has been "a burning issue" in social assistance cases for years.

Province refuses to disclose report

In 2016, Belliveau was collecting temporary sick benefits from the department because she had been refused paid leave from her job.

But the benefits were cut off after the department accused her of not living at the address she used when she filed her claim.

She had moved out of a house she bought after discovering it was full of mould.

Her first case worker accepted that she had to stay with friends, but a subsequent case worker "basically accused me of scamming the system because I wasn't living in my house."

She says a tongue-in-cheek remark about opting to live in a tent on the lawn of her house came back to haunt her when investigators visited the home during the winter and saw no tent.

The department cut off her benefits in January 2017. She asked for a copy of the investigation that led to the decision.

"If you're being investigated, it's kind of a natural reaction that you want to see that investigation," she said.

"You want to see how they came to that conclusion, what they did and what they checked."

If the government wants citizens to be forthcoming, they should also be forthcoming, so that everyone feels it's an open relationships and there's trust going both ways.-Grace Belliveau

The province refused, making it harder to challenge the decision.

"With that kind of information, she would have had a much better understanding of how fairly, or unfairly, the government was assessing her continuing eligibility," said Barnett, who helped Belliveau with her case.

Recipients can seek reviews of decisions and appeal them to the Family Income Security Appeals Board. Its website says it is "required, by its quasi-judicial nature, to conduct hearings in a court-like manner" and follow the concept of natural justice.

Barnett says that should include letting people see the evidence against them.

"If clients are going to be accused of defrauding the system, they should be entitled to full disclosure, and of course a presumption of innocence, just like anyone else accused of an offence," Barnett said.

A 2nd refusalto disclose report

Belliveau filed a request for her report under the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, but the department again refused to hand it over.

Then-minister Stephen Horsman cited a section of the law that lets the government withhold information that would "harm the effectiveness of investigative techniques."

She then complained to integrity commissioner Alexandre Deschnes, who investigated and concluded that officials were worried that revealing investigative techniques would allow social assistance recipients to "scam" the government.

Deschnes wrote in his June 2018 report that the government's fears were misplaced in cases like Belliveau's because recipients know they're required to provide their real address and so would be aware they might be checked.

He also said those recipients would have a hard time faking other addresses across multiple provincial government databases that are checked during an investigation.

Deschnes recommended the department give Belliveau the report, but Horsman again refused and told her she had the right to appeal to the Court of Queen's Bench.

"I thought it was ironic considering that they knew my situation and that would not be an option for me," Belliveau said. "If you have the financial means you can exercise your rights, and if you don't, you can't."

At her request, Deschnes challenged the rejection of Belliveau's request himself the first time any commissioner has used that legal power.

"I'm grateful that he did it," Belliveau said.

"He was very, very important in this."

Changing the approach

Rather than fight the appeal, the department sentBelliveau the report last month and decided to change its approach to future requests

Barnett says it should go farther.

"I hope release of investigation reports will be automatic, without depending on whether clients make requests, which they may not know they can do," he said.

It's especially important when benefits are cut off because it will put clients "on a more level playing field" with the department if they appeal the decision, he said.

Belliveau found a new apartment while waiting forthe report, so the department no longer alleges that she isn't living in her home. In the end she didn't need to use the report to challenge the cutting of her benefits.

Still, she learned from reading it that investigators had looked at her family members' property records and at her own Facebook account information she doesn't think was relevant to her case. The report noted she had posted on "feminist" subjects.

Belliveau says the two-year right-to-information fight added more stress to an already difficult period in her life, but she hopes it will make it easier for other social-assistance recipients.

"If the government wants citizens to be forthcoming, they should also be forthcoming, so that everyone feels it's an open relationships and there's trust going both ways."