Declared dead by Service Canada, N.B. woman still trying to get life back
Service Canada blames human error, says 'corrective action' has been taken
It took Cathy Adams almost seven weeks to realize she was dead.
When the New Brunswick woman checked her bank account on Jan. 29, her Old Age Security and CPP benefits hadn't been deposited. So she called Service Canada and was put on hold while the government worker checked her file.
"When she came back she said, 'I'm sorry, it's bad news ... On Dec. 13, we received a death notice for you. My condolences.'"
Adams said they both laughed at the ridiculousness of the exchange.
"I said, 'I'm what? I'm dead?'"
Adams, who lives in Charlotte County, was in such disbelief when she got off the phone that she called right back and talked to someone else.
"And they said no, that I was dead. And my benefits have not been cancelled, but rather terminated, which is harder to bring back."
Within the first few days, Adams made nearly two dozen phone calls — some lasting more than an hour — and three trips to the Service Canada office in St. Stephen.
"I usually laugh and say I'd like to come back to life again, please. Or, I'm dead and we need to fix this … There's been a lot of silence on the end of the lines — disbelief silence."
Depending on who she talked to, she got two different responses. One said it was the result of a clerical error and the other said someone claiming to be her niece had reported her dead. Adams said she didn't recognize the name the caller provided.
Employment and Social Development Canada declined to provide an interview but in an emailed statement said "human error" is to blame.
"Service Canada has taken corrective action to resolve this issue and ensured that benefits have been restored. No fraud or scam is involved in this case," wrote Samuelle Carbonneau.
The department was asked for more details. On Tuesday afternoon another official replied saying that it was "an incorrectly entered transaction on Ms. Adams' file stemming from a separate request she had made."
Adams, however, said she made "absolutely no request."
Getting her life back
Adams, meanwhile, said getting her life back has proven more complicated than she expected.
While her Old Age Security has already been deposited in her account, she won't receive her CPP until Feb. 18, and she still isn't able to access her Service Canada account.
But the real headache, she's been told, will be her social insurance number.
On Tuesday, she was asked to provide her marriage certificate, "but I've been separated for going on 30 years, so I really didn't have that.
"However, I did have my separation agreement ... and the girl here said, 'I think that will work' — wasn't 100 per cent sure, but she thought that would work."
While getting her benefits reinstated was her immediate goal, her long-term concern is that her identity has been compromised.
"If you can't give me an explanation and tell me exactly what happened, do I assume that my identity has been compromised?"
And if it has, "What do I have to change? I don't want to start changing things randomly without knowing exactly what happened."
Cause of death not unique
Adams lost even more confidence in Service Canada after she did a bit of online sleuthing and found several similar cases in recent years.
"I found this has happened to numerous people, seniors in particular," she said.
"One or two should red flag that somebody's either not being careful or that there's some fraud. But certainly you can't have that many clerical errors."
Carbonneau said the department doesn't keep track of how often people are declared dead in error, but that it's "exceptionally rare for an individual to be incorrectly declared deceased and to have pension payments stopped in error."
Normally, Service Canada requires "proof of the beneficiary's date of death," Carbonneau said, including full name, date of birth, date of death, social insurance number (if known), previous address, and name and address of the estate or the person responsible for handling the deceased's affairs.
'I missed my wake, didn't get any flowers'
Adams also wonders why she's had to work so hard to fix someone else's mistake.
"I find it difficult to believe that I have to provide documents to get a new [social insurance] number to try to correct a mistake that apparently they have made."
But along the way, she's also had a little fun with the situation.
"You have to make light of things. … You can't be angry about it. You just have to deal with it, but you still have to keep a sense of humour because it's ludicrous."
She's had a bit of fun telling people "that I died and I was coming back to life."
She also jokes about picking another birthday for her next life — or even a new year, perhaps one much later than her original.
"You know what I really wanted? I wanted to know if they got a death certificate and I wanted a copy because I wanted to frame it and have a party."
After all, "I missed my wake, didn't get any flowers."
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