Denial of Service by the Canada Revenue Agency

After trying in vain to claim the recent Canada Housing Benefit due to being irremediably locked out of my CRA account, I’ve decided to escalate the issue starting with an email to Laurel Collins, MP of Victoria, with Global News in CC. If you’re likewise struggling to get past the portal to claim your benefit, stay tuned for further developments.

Greetings, Laurel Collins, MP of Victoria.

I’m having a Kafkaesque situation with the Canada Revenue Agency which I am sure afflicts countless of your constituents who, like me, have experienced homelessness and struggle to claim the benefits they are entitled to, including the recent Canada Housing Benefit.

The problem is that I am irremediably locked out of my online CRA account. Accessing CRA services systematically requires entering what the CRA calls “the address on file”, which is really difficult to explain, but I somehow managed to squeeze the answer out of an agent: it’s the address one last used when making an address change with the CRA, which is different from the last address used on the tax declaration. In other words, it’s possible to file one’s taxes electronically, providing one’s current address, without making an explicit address change request, and that for many years, resulting in an absurd mismatch, and the gatekeepers will not allow users to get through the portal using the last address provided on the tax record.

So what if a current or former homeless person cannot recover “the address on file” because it goes too far back? It’s a common situation; many of us even struggle to prove they exist because they don’t have any ID and nobody to attest their identity, much less records going back decades–and don’t get me started about mental health issues such as dementia. It follows that such a person is effectively shut out of the system; there is absolutely no way through the bureaucracy to access the portal and claim benefits.

And that’s basically the situation I’m in. I’ve enumerated every plausible address I may have submitted to the CRA over the years since I started paying taxes, which makes me wonder whether “the address on file” that they have is actually one of mine or some glitch of theirs (think Phoenix pay system). And if the failure is on my end, I’m afraid all relevant records have been destroyed and the address is unrecoverable.

To add insult to injury, the CRA recognizes me when it’s time to file my tax declaration, and I’m sure it would rabidly claim any penny I were to owe as a result, but refuses to recognize me when it’s time to access its services. And I can’t help thinking it’s being done on purpose just to deny needy people benefits; this is after all my own experience dealing with the federal bureaucracy.

By the way, I would like to mention I happen to be a civil rights blogger and would love to share your answer with my readers, regardless of the development, to the benefit of all I’m sure. I look forward to hearing your response.

Regards,
Martin Girard

By the way, when sending an email to your MP, don’t omit to include your full name, mailing address, and phone number; it was specified only in the automatic reply I received in some kind of catch-22:

This automated response is to assure you that your message has been received by my office and will be reviewed as soon as possible. Please note that constituents of Victoria and correspondence related to my role as Critic of the Environment and Climate Change have priority. Be sure to include your home address or postal code if you are a resident of Victoria.

If you are not a local resident, please contact your MP’s office for assistance.You can enter your postal code here https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en if you are unsure who represents your neighbourhood.

If you are writing to Laurel with a media request specific to her role as the Member of Parliament for Victoria or as the Critic of the Environment and Climate Change, please direct your request to erin.burchett@parl.gc.ca

Our office will respond to direct inquiries from constituents. However, due to the overwhelming volume of correspondence received and our limited capacity, there may be a delay in response time and we may not be able to respond personally to all emails. In most cases, anonymous, cc’d, forwarded items and links to articles will not receive a response. If you have any questions regarding the status of your correspondence, please do not hesitate to follow up with my office.

If you live in Victoria and the information you have sent is about a concern or problem with a federal government ministry or agency, please make sure that you have included your full name, address, telephone number and the particulars regarding your case so we can respond and assist you more efficiently.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your views.

Services & Assistance

When you contact my community office, my staff and I will do everything we can to assist you. Your confidentiality is respected at all times. To give you a better idea of how we can help, please review the information below.

What my Community Office can help you with:

·           Provide information on locating government services and contact information

·           Assist in understanding government policies and services

·           Assist in navigating through government bureaucracy

·           Ensure due process is being followed

·           Attend community events

·           Advocate on behalf of the community to government

·           Provide congratulatory and greeting messages

·           Provide government documents, legislation discussion papers and other web-based forms if you don’t have internet access

·           Resolve issues you may be having with federal ministries or agencies

We can help you if:

·           You are a resident of the Victoria constituency

·           Your matter is with the Federal government

We are unable to:

·           Offer legal advice or assist with legal action

·           Influence processes set up in law to be independent of Parliament

·           Change the time limits for filing appeals

·           Make inquiries about police investigations. If you have a complaint about police conduct, please direct them to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner.

In addition, while we are not able to take on casework that is provincial or municipal in nature, we can help direct you to the people who can assist you.

If you would like more information regarding federal government services and assistance available, please go to https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/service-canada.html or call toll free 1-800-622-6232 for more information.

Thanks again for writing.

Warmly,

Laurel

Member of Parliament for Victoria

Community Office of Laurel Collins

1057 Fort Street

Victoria BC V8V 3K5

1-250-363-3600

Parliamentary Office of Laurel Collins

Confederation Building, Suite 518

Parliament Hill

Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

1-613-996-2358