With regard to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) Program: (a) since 2003, in Canada and for each province, (i) how many overpayment recovery decisions were made by Service Canada, (ii) how many of these decisions were made concerning a problem with a beneficiary’s marital status; (b) under which policy, government directive, legislation or regulation is the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) authorized to share personal information with Service Canada about the marital status of taxpayers regarding their GIS file, and where can it be accessed; (c) since 2002, in Canada and in each province, how many individuals, annually, receive GIS benefits; (d) since 2002, in Canada and in each province, how many individuals, annually, qualify for GIS benefits but do not receive them, regardless of the reason; (e) why, between July 2003 and 2011, did Service Canada not have access to the marital status of GIS beneficiaries despite the information sharing protocol it has with the CRA; (f) why did Service Canada (or the department at the time) set aside certain notices of debt regarding overpayment recovery decisions involving GIS beneficiaries between June 1995 and July 2003; and (g) between 2003 and 2013, were there any cases where Service Canada reviewed GIS benefit files to determine whether the government owed amounts to individuals for whom the change in marital status was to their advantage financially, and if so, how many cases per year?
In the House of Commons on April 9th, 2014. See this statement in context.