OPEN LETTER to Deputy Minister and ministers on ensure seniors’ GIS won’t be disrupted

Therefore, I call on your government to grandfather in all seniors receiving Guaranteed Income Supplement, by automatically renewing their GIS for the 2020-2021 year. Doing so would ensure that no senior loses this vital source of income at a time when maintaining income security for seniors is crucial for their health and safety.
Another issue that the Centre has flagged for me is an issue of GIS eligibility for the 2021-2022 year, which will be based on 2020 income. Some seniors will have received some emergency government support to cope with COVID-19; for example, in BC, the provincial government is offering $300 in assistance for seniors in receipt of the provincial Senior’s Supplement, a measure for very low-income seniors. The Centre has advised that seniors are worried that receipt of this supplement would mean they may not qualify for GIS next year, or that it would have the effect of lowering their eligible GIS monthly amount. In light of this, I call on your government to affirm that any and all COVID-19 emergency aid measures will be exempted from the income calculation for GIS purposes.

April 23, 2020

The Hon. Chrystia Freeland Deputy Prime Minister
House of Commons Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Hon Deb Schulte Minister of Seniors
House of Commons Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Hon. Carla Qualtrough
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Hon Diane Lebouthillier Minister of National Revenue
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Open Letter re: Guaranteed Income Supplement eligibility and continuance in COVID-19 Pandemic

Ministers:

I write today in order to raise an urgent concern about seniors’ income security that impacts many families in Vancouver East.

411 Seniors Centre is a seniors’ resource organization located in my constituency. One of the services that they offer our community is a yearly Tax Clinic, in which the Centre annually assists some 2,000 seniors with completing and filing their income tax return, and assists seniors in making their annual Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) application.

In speaking with the Centre this week, they have raised their urgent concern that they won't be able to conduct this year’s Tax Clinics, even with the extended June deadline for filing 2019 income tax returns. The Centre advises that they do not have the capacity to get an online or virtual Tax Clinic system going. As it stands right now, they have six volunteers who could help with this – whereas in previous years they had over 35 seniors helping.

Given the renewed fraud and scam activity that has emerged in this pandemic there is also a very real concern that seniors who feel pressed to file their taxes on time could be taken advantage of, and that bad actors may end up getting their hands on vulnerable seniors’ SIN numbers and other private, personal information.

I note that the 411 Seniors’ Centre is just one of many organizations in my constituency who offer individual assistance to seniors who need help completing their income tax return or annual GIS application. These are low-income seniors who may face many barriers that would prevent them from

completing a virtual tax clinic or filing their return or application online. They do not have access to and cannot afford the necessary technology requirements, they do not have home internet capacity, they may have mobility challenges or visual impairments that make using technology additionally difficult, they may require language assistance, or they may not have acquired the digital tools and skills that would be needed to complete a timely and accurate filing. These barriers are then amplified by the closure or suspension of community resources such as libraries and community centres, in-person service at local non-profit organizations, and the inability of volunteers to assist due to social distancing measures.

Therefore, I call on your government to grandfather in all seniors receiving Guaranteed Income Supplement, by automatically renewing their GIS for the 2020-2021 year. Doing so would ensure that no senior loses this vital source of income at a time when maintaining income security for seniors is crucial for their health and safety.

Another issue that the Centre has flagged for me is an issue of GIS eligibility for the 2021-2022 year, which will be based on 2020 income. Some seniors will have received some emergency government support to cope with COVID-19; for example, in BC, the provincial government is offering $300 in assistance for seniors in receipt of the provincial Senior’s Supplement, a measure for very low-income seniors. The Centre has advised that seniors are worried that receipt of this supplement would mean they may not qualify for GIS next year, or that it would have the effect of lowering their eligible GIS monthly amount. In light of this, I call on your government to affirm that any and all COVID-19 emergency aid measures will be exempted from the income calculation for GIS purposes.

I thank you in advance for your attention to these urgent matters and will look forward to a response at your earliest possible convenience.

Sincerely,

Jenny Kwan

CC:
The Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos
The Hon. Navdeep Singh Bains
The Hon. William Sterling Blair
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
The Hon. Bill Morneau
The Hon. Kirsty Duncan

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Parliament needs to “just get on with it” and address the issue of “lost Canadians” through amendments to the Canada Citizenship Act, according to Jenny Kwan, NDP critic of citizenship and immigration.

She told The Hill Times that she wonders if a judge would have the patience to grant the federal government a fifth extension on a court order requiring action before the current November deadline.

“This is astounding. What the current situation is right now is that Canada’s Citizenship Act, with respect to lost Canadians, is in violation of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms], and [Bill C-3] will make it Charter-compliant,” said Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.).

Daily Hive: Canadian woman left in limbo after CRA accidentally declares her dead

When June “Juna” Miller filed her taxes in spring, she expected a refund, but instead, she was declared legally dead.

A few weeks later, she attempted to log in to her CRA account. It didn’t work, and she called the agency.

“The woman on the phone said, ‘Well, you’re deceased.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? You’re speaking to me!'” Miller explained.

What followed was a month-long ordeal that cost her her pension, Social Insurance Number, and sense of stability.

“It took them five seconds to say I was dead… without even asking for a death certificate,” she said. “Now I’m being told it could take six months to prove I’m alive. That makes no sense to me.”

But with her account frozen and no payments coming in, she was suddenly without any source of income.

Her Social Insurance Number had been cancelled, making it impossible to access her bank account or even apply for temporary work to stay afloat.

Even Service Canada wasn’t much help, Miller claimed.

She recalls one interaction with an agent who questioned why she kept insisting she was alive, while another refused to proceed because her name didn’t match across various documents.

When Miller attempted to order a copy of her marriage certificate to fulfill the requirement, her request was denied because her ID had already been flagged as invalid.

Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan stepped in as well, formally raising Miller’s case with the federal government.

Miller provided Daily Hive a copy of the letter dated June 30, in which Kwan wrote directly to Minister François-Philippe Champagne, asking that CRA fix the mistake immediately, restore her pension, and ensure all missed payments were sent without delay.

Resurrection, at last

On June 30, Miller received the call she’d been waiting for.

“CRA just called and I have been resurrected,” she told Daily Hive. “They’re sending an apology letter in the mail.”

Radio Canada International: ’Lost Canadians’ citizenship bill tabled as court deadline looms

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the bill was delayed in the last session of Parliament by the Liberals' failure to act in a timely fashion and a Conservative filibuster that stalled the House of Commons' work for months.

The court has given the government yet another extension, and it would be incumbent on this Parliament to make sure that legislation is passed, Kwan said.

The previous lost Canadians citizenship bill died on the order paper when the House prorogued earlier this year. The Senate was engaged in an early study of the legislation to help it become law quickly.

The new legislation, Bill C-3, proposes giving automatic citizenship to anyone denied citizenship under the current law.

It also would establish a new framework for citizenship by descent going forward. The legislation proposes Canadian citizenship could be passed down to people born abroad, beyond the first generation, if their parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child's birth or adoption.

Those were the two primary goals of the original lost Canadians bill.