Families of Albertans who die asked to return rebate

CALGARY Were Marie Casey alive when she received a bill from the province, demanding she return her $100 rebate from the NDP’s carbon tax, the great-grandmother wouldn’t have minced words.

“She’d tell them to stuff it and (she’d) keep it,” said Darlene Piche, the daughter of the recently deceased Strathmore woman.

Piche was floored when she received a bill from the province via the Canada Revenue Agency on March 3, calling for the return of the cash just six weeks after Casey died.

Casey, who would have been 75 in April, received her carbon tax rebate from the province in early January.

The $100 cheque, issued to middleand lower-income Albertans to offset the costs of the controversial levy, was supposed to cover the period between January and June.

But just 16 days later, the mother of five, who had seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, died.

The notice on the letter is as simple as it is cold: “We determined that you are no longer eligible to receive ACLAR (Alberta Climate Leadership Adjustment Rebate) payments.” Below that is the amount due: $100.

“I was dumbfounded. And then my dumbfoundedness turned to anger,” said Piche.

Loreen Forrest lives in Rosemary, population 396, sandwiched between Brooks and Bassano. Her father, Jacob Wiems, was bedridden in a care facility for two years after a fall shattered his hip. But at 95 years old, not paying for gas or heating, he still received the rebate.

He died Jan. 11, just a few days after he received his rebate cheque. Last week, the government asked for it back.

“It’s kind of hurtful. I was so stunned I had to read it twice,” Forrest said.

Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci on Tuesday acknowledged that grieving families being asked to return their loved ones’ refunds is “not right,” and he said the province will begin discussions immediately with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Ceci said he only became aware of the issue Monday.