Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Politics

    • More than 1,000 Canadians take CRA to court over pandemic payments—and some win

    Share

    In late 2021, Tressa Mitchell was dealing with doctor's appointments for her ailing mother when she got a call from the Canada Revenue Agency seeking information to verify her eligibility for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

    After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Mitchell, who has a lung condition, took time off work as a cashier in Saskatchewan. Like thousands of Canadians, she collected CERB for several months during the global public health crisis.

    The rollout of the pandemic relief payments saw billions doled out to individuals and businesses on a pay-now-ask-questions-later basis.

    But the verification process was far from perfect.

    The government's subsequent attempts to claw back pandemic funds from those it now deems ineligible set the stage for more than 1,000 battles in Federal Court between claimants and the Canada Revenue Agency.

    A review of dozens of such cases show many involve self-represented litigants, in what one law professor described as "profoundly unequal" contests against the legal might of the federal government.

    But some, against the odds, have won.

    Self-represented litigants who won another review of their cases have included an Ontario hospitality worker who demonstrated his joblessness was related to the pandemic by showing he went through three interviews for an airport position just before COVID-19's onset.

    There was also a labourer and web designer who submitted a police report to prove that his tax and banking documents had been stolen from Union Station in Toronto, even managing to secure $800 in costs from the CRA.

    A Quebec retiree, meanwhile, convinced a judge he had been doing odd jobs as a landscaper to make extra cash after the level of his pre-pandemic income was challenged by the CRA.

    They also include Mitchell, a stay-at-home mother with no means to hire a lawyer, who embarked on a self-taught crash course in law after being ordered to repay $16,000 in CERB.

    In hindsight, Mitchell says she wishes she hadn't answered the phone that day in 2021.

    "She called me at a super hard time in my life," Mitchell said.

    The CRA agent wanted detailed information about Mitchell's income and medical condition within a couple of weeks. The deadlines for the material had slipped Mitchell's mind, preoccupied with her mother's cancer diagnosis and her duties as a mother of three.

    The CRA employee said Mitchell hadn't tried hard enough, would have to pay back thousands, and her case was being closed.

    On the verge of tears, Mitchell asked what she could do. The only option was to go to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review.

    "Then I started the whole review process and found out what a gong show it is," she said. "I struggled so hard getting everything done."

    Mitchell filed her case in January 2022, and the court ruled in her favour on June 16, sending the matter back to another CRA officer for a third review.

    The judge found the previous tax agent had "mischaracterized" Mitchell's evidence, wrongfully concluding she voluntarily quit her job.

    Now Mitchell awaits the CRA's next move, hoping she won't have to repay the $16,000 she collected back in 2020.

    "I still have to plead my case to the CRA," she said. "Even just to have that opened up, that I get that third review, is huge."

    Others haven't been so lucky, and have been left feeling aggrieved that the government has pursued them.

    Judy Sjogren, a former nurse in her early 60s who lives in Big River, Sask., survives off the Canada Pension Plan, and by selling drawings she makes with her one good hand. She lost a court fight after being ordered to repay $7,000 in CERB.

    "The federal government just uses this system to rip people off," she said. "I didn't work all my life to do this."

    The large bulk of pandemic handouts deemed unwarranted have gone to businesses, not individuals.

    The Auditor General reported in 2022 that pandemic supports for individuals and businesses totalled $211 billion. While $4.6 billion went to ineligible individuals, more than $15 billion went to businesses whose revenue ultimately didn't decline enough to qualify for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.

    The auditor's report concluded "the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada did not manage the selected COVID-19 programs efficiently given the significant amount paid to ineligible recipients."

    The auditor found the agencies' efforts to recover funds wrongly paid out were not "timely," warning that "significant unrecoverable amounts are likely to materialize."

    A spokeswoman for the CRA said in an email that 1,046 individuals have filed court challenges over pandemic benefits, including cases that have been closed and those still pending.

    Those who lost their cases have included a Toronto woman who fell short of the $5,000 pre-pandemic income requirement by just $7, a former Toronto Uber driver whose inability to drive was due to a disability and not the pandemic, and multiple Airbnb operators who were deemed to earn rental income rather than self-employment income.

    Sjogren said she was injured more than a decade ago and went off work with a disability, but is still fighting the Sask. government over her designation as a disabled person.

    When she applied for pandemic benefits, she thought she was in the clear with enough pre-pandemic self-employment income to make her eligible, but the CRA disagreed.

    The agency wanted more than $7,000 back -- more than Sjogren makes in a typical year -- so she sought a judicial review without the help of a lawyer. She said she could neither find one, nor afford one.

    The court denied her application, but the judge noted that a consequence of the judicial review system means courts don't reverse decisions and impose new results, but rather send them back for redetermination.

    "This feature of judicial review may be surprising to those who do not have legal training and who expect the court to be able to settle their grievances," the judge wrote.

    That was in January 2023, and the CRA has since sent Sjogren a bill for $7,200, which she says she can't pay.

    "I have spots in my lungs and all I've been doing is sitting in court with no help, getting turned down for any type of money from the government that I've paid into for years and years," Sjogren said.

    Stephen Pelland lives in Surrey, B.C., and the CRA wants him to pay back more than $25,000 he collected after the scrap metal business he started before the pandemic fizzled along with his income.

    A former addict now in recovery, Pelland filed a judicial review in November 2022 and is awaiting a hearing into his application, which he filed on his own.

    "I want to have my day in court and explain what's going on and it's been a real struggle because I've even tried to hire a lawyer," he said. "I paid to have a consultation and they wouldn't even take my case."

    Jennifer Leitch, a law professor and executive director of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project, said she was previously unaware that many Canadians were going up against the CRA over pandemic benefit claw backs, but was "pleasantly surprised" some were winning their "profoundly unequal" contests.

    "The outcomes are (usually) not great for self-represented litigants," she said.

    She said the uneven nature of the CERB battles could lead to a perception of a two-tiered legal system -- one tier for those who can afford lawyers, and one for those who can't.

    She said this was problematic because it deterred people from seeking their day in court.

    "It also speaks to something that I think is really troubling, which is this idea that people want to pursue their case, that they feel that they want to be heard in court, that they feel that they were sort of righteous and had not done anything wrong, and yet feel that the system either doesn't hear them or doesn't welcome them, or doesn't accept them," she said.

    "That's a really sort of sad thing for our society."

     

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2023.

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

    A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

    A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

    Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

    A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    Canada

    • A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.

    • The London Police Service (LPS) is currently investigating a suspicious death in the east end.

    • The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

    • A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    • A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

    • A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • Tattoos are becoming more common in today's society and, as a result, appear to be more acceptable in the workplace than they used to be.

    • How to win the fight with kids over phone use

      The end of the day — when school, extracurricular activities and homework are (hopefully) finally done — is the window that many kids have for downtime. It can be a struggle to convince them not to go on their phones.

    • While slang may come and go, experts say the phenomenon behind them, which constantly churns out brand-new bon mots, is as old as language itself.

    Sports

    • Jonathan Aranda homered for the second consecutive game, helping Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.

    • Kiefer Sherwood spent several nights last spring chasing Quinn Hughes around the ice and generally pestering the Vancouver Canucks.

    • Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

    Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    • A six-year-old girl who was reported missing in northern B.C. earlier this week remains unaccounted for, and "significant resources from across the province" have joined in the search, police said Saturday.

    • Volunteers and staff members gathered along Vancouver’s Stanley Park Seawall Saturday to pick up litter as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day.

    • A heritage home in Vancouver suffered "extensive damage" in a fire that broke out late Saturday morning, according to firefighters.

    • A 23-year-old man has been arrested after one person was found dead at a home in Richmond Hill Saturday morning.

    • Toronto police say they have now identified a third person who they believe was involved in a shooting that left two men dead in North York earlier this week.

    • A man is fighting for his life in hospital a day after a vehicle smashed into several others in and around an intersection in Milton before flipping over.

    • Milla White from Cochrane literally drew her way into a meeting with former boxer and actor Mickey Rourke.

    • The water coming from your taps might be a bit murky Saturday, but Calgary remains on schedule to end all water restrictions on Sunday.

    • For 12 hours Saturday Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPCK) employees, service personnel and corporate teams rode spin bikes to raise funds and awareness for charities focusing on housing homeless veterans in Canada and the U.S.

    • A potential move to LeBreton Flats for the Ottawa Senators is still years away, but questions and concerns are already being raised about what to do with the Canadian Tire Centre.

    • The Taste of Wellington 2024 wraps up Saturday in Ottawa.

    • A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

    • Montrealers can get used to taking a stroll on several car-free streets during the summer in the years to come thanks to a new commitment from the city.

    • Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

    • Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

    • The Edmonton Police Service is looking for a person of interest in connection with a suspicious fire that destroyed a multi-unit building and damaged several townhomes earlier this week.

    • Tattoos are becoming more common in today's society and, as a result, appear to be more acceptable in the workplace than they used to be.

    • Two people have been charged after a daylight shooting in Red Deer earlier this week.

    • Halifax Regional Police warned the public of a series of high-value thefts targeting retail stores Friday.

    • Pictou County District RCMP is investigating a fatal crash that occurred in Thorburn, N.S., Saturday.

    • A proposal for additional parking to accommodate upgrades at the Irving Pulp & Paper Mill in Saint John, N.B., would add an estimated 500 parking spots at Wolastoq Park.

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    • A herd of dogs paid visit to patients and residents at Riverview Health Centre during an annual event that lifts spirits and wags tails.

    • While slang may come and go, experts say the phenomenon behind them, which constantly churns out brand-new bon mots, is as old as language itself.

    • Fire officials are investigating after a fire completely destroyed the community fridge in the Cathedral neighborhood.

    • The last two months after losing her daughter Bella have been extremely difficult for Kyla Thomson.

    • Regina police arrested three youths in connection to a bear mace incident at a Regina high school on Friday.

    • The Cambridge Professional Fire Fighters’ Association held their annual Muscular Dystrophy Boot Drive on Saturday.

    • Protests were held in front of Kitchener City Hall on Friday, both for and against LGBTQ2S+ inclusive education and queer rights in schools.

    • Police said the pedestrian, a 52-year-old man, was taken to an out-of-region hospital with life-threatening injuries and the driver of the vehicle failed to remain at the scene.

    • The 75-year-old building, formerly the Waskesiu Chamber of Commerce building, was relocated to the Parks Canada compound on the edge of the townsite.

    • Saskatchewan RCMP major crimes unit is investigating after a man’s body was found on Sweetgrass First Nation.

    • Motors were roaring, and tires were spinning as Saskatoon's biggest names in motocross gathered together for the 50-year anniversary of the club's founding on Saturday.

    • A motorcyclist has died following a serious collision that took place in London’s south end on Friday afternoon.

    • The London Police Service (LPS) is currently investigating a suspicious death in the east end.

    • The St. Thomas police is asking the public for help locating a missing man.

    • The Barrie Skateboard Association (BSA) hosted a unique competition at the City's Skate Park on Saturday to celebrate its 25th anniversary, which showcased the park's importance and the growth of skateboarding in the region.

    • A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.

    • One person is in hospital after an e-bike crash in Orillia on Thursday.

    • The Amherstburg Freedom Museum is celebrating a year of festivities in anticipation of its 50th anniversary in 2025.

    • The St. Clair College golf teams were successful at the Niagara Knights Invitational tournament on Friday.

    • A LaSalle high school is celebrating its emerald anniversary this weekend, with everyone who has ever walked its halls invited to return.

    • A man who was found dead behind a curling rink in Nanaimo, B.C., earlier this month was the victim of a homicide, police confirmed.

    • A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    • A six-year-old girl who was reported missing in northern B.C. earlier this week remains unaccounted for, and "significant resources from across the province" have joined in the search, police said Saturday.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • Despite the heavy rain, plenty of muscle turned up for United Way’s annual Pull the Bus fundraiser in Lethbridge Friday.

    • Lethbridge County has rescinded its fire restriction as a result of the recent cool, wet weathr.

    • The Lethbridge Hurricanes kicked off the 2024-25 season on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1 in a game played at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

    • A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

    • Following an outbreak of COVID-19 on its continuing care floor and just ahead of the flu season, St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Elliot Lake has opted to re-introduce a universal masking policy until further notice.

    • A 26-year-old driver from Surrey, B.C., has been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a crash that killed two youths in northern Ontario last year.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow Â鶹ӰÊÓ