Mr. Dave Walsh:

The first step would be if any appeal or an objection observation is received by the board, we would write to or communicate with the person. In some cases, letters would come back because the address was wrong or, in some cases, the person could not be found. In theory, if there is no objection, then there is no case for the board to deal with.

Any appeal or objection that is received is circulated to the applicant. Again, in some cases, the applicant may raise the same question the Deputy has, namely, does this person exist. The board would take every step that it can to track down and make sure there is a valid appeal from a person who exists.

We would take legal advice as to what the status. The board would have operated on the best available information it had in making its decision. It may be a matter for the courts to decide whether the board’s appeal and decision stands.

There have been difficulties. I remember a general case in which somebody wrote in with their views on a topic. It was obvious that English was not their first language. The person spelled their name differently in three different locations on the application form. We undertook to follow up and make sure the person existed. The person did not write in the English script, meaning the challenge was spelling it. Again, these are the kinds of steps the board would take in general terms. In many cases, it would be the applicant who might raise this issue, on which the board would then follow up.