QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Recovery of Fraudulent COVID-19 Support Payments
February 7, 2023
Senator Gold, the Auditor General noted in her recent COVID pandemic spending report that, “As of September 2022, the agency and the department had identified employees that claimed COVID-19 benefits.”
In that quote, “the agency” is the Canada Revenue Agency, and “the department” is Employment and Social Development Canada.
When MPs last week questioned officials from these two federal government entities that ran the CERB program about this, they were informed that 49 employees at the employment department were fired for claiming the benefit for themselves. The tax agency official would not state how many cases of employee CERB fraud had occurred at that government agency, saying only that it was “not many.”
Neither department referred these federal government employees found in such flagrant violations to law enforcement. Why not?
Well, I’m not aware of what the government has or has not referred to law enforcement. That is something that would not be appropriate in this chamber.
The government has put in place mechanisms to identify fraud in CERB. The government was open on day one, when the pandemic hit and this measure was introduced, that there would be a trade-off between making sure that benefits were available quickly, efficiently and effectively to the great majority of Canadians needing them and the recognition that there were going to be aspects of the program that would need to be corrected going forward.
The government is now in the process of doing just that, but again, those who fraudulently or wrongly claimed CERB should be ashamed of themselves and should suffer the appropriate consequences under the circumstances. The government remains committed and proud of the contribution it made to keeping Canadians afloat, keeping our economy afloat and helping Canada weather the worldwide crisis that we have lived through.
Senator Gold, this was a considerable news story last week, and as the Leader of the Government in the Senate, with all the staff and budget that entails, and as a member of Privy Council, there is no reason you shouldn’t be briefed about this and ready to give a government-wide answer on this issue.
My question is simple: In total, across all government departments, how many federal government employees applied for the CERB benefit, how many of them have been fired, and how many have been referred to law enforcement?
Thank you for noting my position. Regarding the budget to which you refer, I wish it were as vast as you imply.
But seriously, Senator Batters, I was not briefed in particular on this issue. I will take those questions and make inquiries, and in due course, I will have an answer for you.
