'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
The federal government sent more than $9 million worth of COVID-19 disability cheques to estates of which the recipient of the money had died before the pandemic.
New documents tabled in the House of Commons in response to a written question by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale also show that 4,637 people with addresses outside of Canada received the benefit.
In June 2020, Ottawa announced a one-time payment of up to $600 for persons living with a disability, to help offset additional pandemic-related costs. Eligible recipients included Canadians who had a valid 2020 Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certificate and those entitled to the Canada Pension Plan Disability, Quebec Pension Plan Disability, or one of the disability support programs administered by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Recipients weren’t required to apply for this benefit, instead the money flowed through existing programs. As of April 21, more than 1.6 million Canadians have accessed it.
A response by Employment and Social Development Canada notes that while measures were taken to ensure a “detailed review and careful analysis” of data to confirm eligibility, in some cases, information “may not have been up to date because the government did not receive the individual’s updated personal information, or because of late or incomplete tax filing.”
For this reason, 15,409 payments were made to people who were eligible through the DTC alone, the DTC and one of the programs under Veterans Affairs Canada, or solely through the latter but had died prior to the pandemic being declared. These benefits totaled $9,208,500.
The department says they will conduct a fulsome review of the relief distribution to identify payment errors, and that any overpayments will be accrued as “debts owed to the Crown.”
The document states, however, that because the DTC is accessible for the entire calendar year, estates won’t have to pay back the amount regardless of when in 2020 the recipient died.
In March, Canada’s auditor general commended the government’s efforts to get money – specifically the popular Canada Emergency Response Benefit – out the door quickly to Canadians who had been impacted by the pandemic, but cautioned that less rigorous eligibility screening did lead to cases of abuse.
CTVNews.ca reported in April that a Canadian family that’s lived in New Zealand for the past 18 years received the one-time disability payment addressed to their daughter who died in 2009.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.