The numbers are huge. In her latest report, the Auditor General (AG) of Canada, Karen Hogan, establishes that the federal government, during the pandemic, paid individuals 4.6 billion too many in Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). In addition, it should look at nearly 27.4 billion in various aid related to COVID-19, including 15.5 billion granted to companies that have not suffered significant loss of income during the confinements.
Added to this, in PCU, 1.6 billion paid to individuals who had left their jobs, and for the record, 6.1 million paid to prisoners and 1.2 million sent to 391 souls who had left this world. If we add all these amounts, we arrive at a sum of more than 33.6 billion. This represents 16% of the 210 billion paid in various benefits by the federal government during the pandemic.
According to the VG, the amount of 27.4 billion in benefits that merit examination is a minimum. The government could run out of time: the law includes recovery periods ranging from 36 to 72 months, depending on the case.
Faced with the pandemic, the Trudeau government concluded that it was necessary to support individuals and businesses quickly in order to avoid an economic crisis. It was therefore decided to trust their declarations – on their good faith – even if it meant doing the checks afterwards.
The AG recognizes that the federal government, through this massive financial assistance provided quickly, was able to prevent an increase in poverty and help the economy recover from the effects of the pandemic. Macroeconomically, it was the right thing to do.
Karen Hogan, however, believes that the two federal entities that distributed this windfall, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), lack rigor in their verifications after the fact. She particularly deplored that the CRA proceeds by sampling based on a notion of risk. It is therefore certain that the agency will content itself with recovering only a fraction of the sums paid in excess. So far, the CRA has only responded to calls from citizens who wanted to voluntarily repay benefits to which they were not entitled.
In Ottawa, the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, described as “exaggerated” the figures put forward by the VG. But what should be remembered is that the Trudeau government is unable to tell us what the extent of the unjustified payments is and how much it intends to recover.
Some of the benefit overpayments have gone to low-income people who are struggling to repay long-spent amounts. Providers have negotiated repayment agreements with ESDC. The federal government could consider wiping the slate clean for some, but it still has to be through a standardized program, as the VG suggests.
As for businesses, the CRA must do all the necessary checks on the $15.5 billion in wage subsidies that they would have received without being entitled to them. There was a time when the federal public service was a model of management, but the least we can say is that its star is fading: we need only think of the dysfunctions that marked the issuing of passports and that have affected the Canadian Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for several years.
Even at cost, the CRA must make every effort, not just haphazardly, to collect amounts owed by businesses. This is not only about sound management of public funds, but also about the most basic fiscal justice.