Federal Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier will not disclose to parliamentarians how many federal employees have been fired for defrauding a pandemic-relief subsidy program intended for Canadians who were struggling with unemployment.
MPs have repeatedly sought to obtain the number from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) after a committee learned in February that a number of employees in Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough’s department were fired for applying for and receiving up to $2,000 in monthly Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments while still working for Employment and Social Development Canada.
In a recent Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons, Lebouthillier acknowledged that the CRA has fired “a number of employees” found to have collected CERB payments while they were still in the agency’s employ, but would not disclose how many, according to Blacklock’s Reporter….