The rollout of the pandemic relief payments saw billions doled out to individuals and businesses on a pay-now-ask-questions-later basis.
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.
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. 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.
Now Mitchell awaits the CRA's next move, hoping she won't have to repay the $16,000 she collected back in 2020. "The federal government just uses this system to rip people off," she said. "I didn't work all my life to do this."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.
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.
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.
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