Declared dead by government, B.C. woman evicted

TORONTO — When Jennifer Kirschner watched a Global News story about an Ontario woman who was mistakenly declared dead by the federal government, she says she could relate: the government recently placed her on a list of dead Canadians, too.

“I believe a funeral home reported me as being deceased,” said Kirschner, explaining that she became aware of the error after her employment insurance benefits were terminated without warning.

“That’s right, they don’t pay dead people.”

Kirschner, of Burnaby, B.C. says she spent nearly a month trying to convince bureaucrats that she was not deceased. She says the delay and loss of income led to an eviction notice from her landlord because she was unable to pay the rent.

“I’ve lived in this house for 13 years and now I’ve got to find a new place to live in a situation where there’s no cheap rent out there,” she said.

Kirschner’s predicament is not as unusual as you might think. According to government records, 5,909 living Canadians were declared dead by the federal government.

Patricia Gaudette of Dundas, Ont. found out she was “dead” when she received a notice in the mail in February addressed to her estate.

“It was creepy,” said Gaudette, 67, whose government pension deposits totalling about $1,300 a month immediately dried up.

“They’re holding all the cards. You’re dead and they’ve got your money.”

The blunder came to light just weeks after Gaudette’s son Zachary, 30, died after being punched outside a Kelowna, B.C. restaurant. His death is still under RCMP investigation.

Now, caring with an aging mother and mourning the loss of her son, Gaudette was left to deal with her own death.

“Something needs to be done so people don’t have to go through this, if the government realizes it’s an inside error,” she said.

The Canada Revenue Agency refuses to discuss individual cases, citing privacy regulations. However, it told Global News it acknowledges mistakes are made and says it attempts to resolve them quickly.

“Whenever there is any indication that the information the CRA has is incorrect, immediate steps are taken to correct our records and inform our partners,” said spokesman Paul Murphy.

“Those steps also include ensuring that affected individuals receive all the benefits and credits to which they are entitled. The error is usually corrected on the day we receive the information that the individual was coded deceased in error.”

Gaudette says her efforts to convince government representatives at a Service Canada office were met with demands she produce more documents, including a marriage certificate. She says the government-issued identification she showed was considered insufficient.

After Global News contacted the CRA, Gaudette received a call from officials and was reassured her status would be restored and her withheld pension benefits restored.

“I’m frustrated with it all,” said Kirschner, awaiting a report from the government documenting what happened so she can challenge her eviction before a landlord and tenant tribunal.

In its review in 2014, the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman made a series of recommendations to government aimed at preventing future mistakes.

It recommended procedures be put in place to “monitor control measures to ensure that when errors do occur, they are detected and corrected as rapidly as possible.”