A federal department responsible for handing out financial benefits to Canadians who stopped working during the COVID-19 pandemic has fired 49 of its own staff who applied for and received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) while they were still employed.
Testifying before the Commons public accounts committee on Jan. 2, Mary Crescenzi, assistant deputy minister of Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) Integrity Services, said an internal investigation was conducted when the department knew about employees who claimed the $2,000 per month COVID-19 benefit. 
“It was discovered that some of our employees had availed themselves as any Canadian to apply for CERB benefits on their own time,” Crescenzi said. “Those individuals that did break the trust of the employer-employee relationship as we reviewed for cause, their security clearances have been terminated.”…