The Trudeau government still refuses to release precise figures on the extent of possible fraud to the Canada Emergency Benefit (CEP).
Despite questions posed by our Bureau of Investigation, it is impossible to know how much of the gigantic amount of nearly $ 60 billion spent by the program may have been misappropriated, even if the figures exist on this subject.
“In order to protect the integrity of our (fraud audit) process, these numbers are not being released at this time,” the federal Department of Employment and Social Development said in an email in response to our comments. Questions.
The ministry’s response also applies to the student benefit, the PCUE.
According to the latest existing data, $ 59.4 billion has been paid in ECPs and $ 2 billion in ECPs since the start of the pandemic. So far, Ottawa has offered no specific assessment of possible fraud.
The only indication we have was given by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in mid-May. Asked about this at a press briefing, he said that Ottawa expected a fraud rate of 1%.
$ 610 million in fraud?
Even if the frauds were to represent only 1% of the requests of the PCU and the PCUE, we arrive at the considerable sum of $ 610 million in embezzled money.
In June, sources inside the federal government did not hesitate to tell the Journal that “fraudsters are cramped with laughter” in relation to the weakness of the verification mechanisms put in place. This situation does not surprise the Conservative MP for Richmond-Arthabaska, Alain Rayes.
“We are still talking about a lack of transparency, he reacted, and poorly managed taxpayer money. Unfortunately, several experts say that it will be difficult to recover these sums given the slowness of the actions taken by the federal government in this file. “
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