Attempted Service Canada fraud continues to cause concern for many residents, with employment insurance recipients deprived of income for months.
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“It’s totally inhumane,” said Rimouski-Negit-Tmiscoata-les Pasco member Maxime Blanchett-Joncas. “We have dozens, even hundreds, of people in distress.”
“We get five to ten calls a day and 80% of the time, it’s always the same: It’s identity theft,” added Michel Dube, coordinator at Action Populaire Rimouski-Neigette.
The consequences are dire. Citizens have to choose between housing, food, or even paying for medicines. Others give up on finding a plan B, or even a plan C.
“People live on their credit cards. It’s boring to say, but there are always the services of a food bank and social assistance [pour venir en aide entre-temps]’, he pointed out.
Services Canada declined to respond to interview requests from TVA Nouvelles.
However, the department emphasized in an email exchange that “in times of crisis, the risk of fraud is higher. We would like to clarify that Service Canada accounts have not been hacked. In Quebec, Service Canada has implemented a number of measures to speed up the processing time for files, including hiring people Another measure taken by Service Canada is to train agents in call centers and Service Canada centers to verify the identity of customers in order to recover benefit payments.
But the basic problem has not been resolved. The IT department is outdated,” Mr. Dube explained.
“Government [du Canada] He informs us that they are unable to improve the processing of applications, which is unacceptable,” the MP denounced.
In addition to IT shortcomings, Service Canada will also have major connectivity problems.
From our side, in the offices of the representatives, we only received the information two weeks before the solution [de Services Canada] It is put into place. How do we be a frequent gateway to people in emergencies on a daily basis and that we only receive people after two weeks? Mr Blanchett Juncas asserted.
Therefore, short-term solutions are needed very quickly.
Is it possible to make checks after disbursing the funds? As it happened with the PCU,” Maxime Blanchette-Joncas wonders.
