Pragmatic way to deal with fraud

Dear Editor:

The tone of the Dan Albas recent column entitled “Should we ignore fraud” is alarmist and selectively uses bits of information to create a potentially misleading picture.

Firstly, there is no reliable evidence that the government has said that fraud should be permanently ignored. Finance Minister Bill Morneau and the prime minister have stated that the primary objective is to get financial relief to all the intended targets as quickly as possible – a very reasonable objective in the circumstances. Note that Pierre Poilievre (the Conservative finance spokesman) has supported the fast-tracking of payment of certain benefits.

Secondly, the government has acknowledged that people who do not qualify may receive money. Importantly, the government has emphasized that this will be sorted out later. This is not ignoring fraud. It is a pragmatic response to a very difficult situation when the CRA only has limited resources.

Albas states that it has been reported (he doesn’t name the source) that potentially 200,000 CERB applications have already been red flagged. I would say good – there is a process and it appears to be working. He does not say that at least seven million (a recent CBC number) applications have been made. This means that potentially, and I emphasize potentially, fewer than three per cent are a cause for concern. It most certainly does not mean that they are all fraudulent.

The policy objective of CERB is, I believe, generally accepted as a sound objective. With any fast-track implementation there are risks. Albas, who has a business background, must know that risk can never be completely eliminated. The problem is that the numbers associated with CERB are huge – that is a reality for a program like this in a crisis such as this.

What is important now is to ensure that CRA and other agencies are adequately resourced to do what needs to be done and that they are protected from unwarranted criticism.

John Bailey, Kelowna