Dear Editor,

I have been attempting to research an important matter regarding the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) dating back over 15 years. It was clear that back then Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) failed to alert some 250,000 seniors of their eligibility for GIS benefits.

If payments had been made retroactive past the required 11 months to correct Ottawa’s failure, taxpayers would have been on the hook for an estimated $2.5 billion. Bureaucrats in Ottawa conceded that HRDC knew of the problems as early as 1993. Yet they failed to take responsible corrective measures to compensate impoverished Canadian seniors.

This issue was once front-page news across the country and now the government acts like it never happened.

My research on this issue has been met with apparent indifference as the government has simply failed to respond. A public inquiry into this issue would get some answers, but if seniors are not on the government’s agenda then nor would be a public inquiry.

At this point I am a one-man inquiry going nowhere on this issue. It seems reasonable that the government would simply answer my questions unless they have something to hide or fear the financial consequences. Is that possible?

It seems apparent our government failed Canadian seniors regarding GIS. Their own government once wronged impoverished seniors. Where is their apology and where is their money, including interest on retroactive payments past eleven months?

Yours truly,
Larry Birkbeck
Regina, SK