GARDEN OF EDEN – Reports of Theresa Fraser’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
The Garden of Eden woman was shocked to learn in December when she went to do her banking that the government had declared she was dead, putting a stop to her old-age security cheque.
When the bank called the federal government to inquire why her cheque hadn’t come in that month, they were told she was dead.
“The girl looked at me and told them on the phone, ‘No she’s not, she’s right here’,” Fraser said. “I got on the phone and told them I was bright-eyed and bushy tailed.”
Fraser went back home to wait for a replacement cheque to be sent. While it may have shaken other people, Fraser chuckled about the mix-up.
“It’s no sense crying about it,” she said.
It turns out that the government had somehow mixed her up with another Theresa Fraser who had died last fall in Trenton. The duo are different ages – the deceased woman was in her 80s, while Fraser is spry at 77 – and don’t share a birth date.
“They told me they just go down the list with a ruler, they don’t check anyone’s social insurance number or anything, and when they found one that matched, they just crossed it out like that,” Fraser said. “What’s a social insurance number for then?”
Fraser did get her missing cheque the next week and thought the problem was solved – until she found out again last week that she was a dead woman walking.
On March 9, she received a letter addressed to the estate of the late Theresa C. Fraser, demanding she send back the GST cheque she received in January.
Again, she called the Canada Revenue Agency in Ottawa and tried to correct the problem and approached Peter MacKay’s office for assistance.
“I told them I’m still living, but I’ll have to wait until the GST cheques come out in April to find out if they agree that I’m still alive,” Fraser said. “It’s not all that much money, but all the same it’s a help. They had plenty of time to straighten things out between when this first happened in the beginning of December to now so I wouldn’t have to go through this again.”
When Fraser’s husband died, she had to send a copy of his death certificate to everyone, along with his social insurance number, address and date of death.
“What are they doing up in Ottawa now, when they can’t read or don’t care anymore? There are so many people who have the same name, even here in Pictou County,” she said.
To make matters worse, the Canada Revenue Agency hasn’t expressed any sympathy or given any apologies.
“That’s what got me,” Fraser said. “They didn’t even give me an apology.”
Philipe Brideau, a spokesperson with the Canada Revenue Agency, told The News that this type of incident can occur occasionally because the department relies on information from other government departments and said the agency would be “definitely working to correct the situation ASAP.”
Brideau said the CRA gets information from multiple sources.
“The Canada Revenue Agency receives information both directly from taxpayers and from other government sources. Despite safeguards in place to ensure accuracy, occasionally information we receive is incorrect or misinterpreted.”
Brideau said the CRA strongly recommends that Fraser contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 to have the error corrected.
