Weyburn mom battling CRA in court over CERB repayment

While caring for her sick mother and dealing with her own health issues, Tressa Mitchell was also being asked by the Canada Revenue Agency about the eligibility of her Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

Mitchell is a mother of three from Weyburn, and is now one of over 1,000 Canadians who have taken the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to court over repaying the CERB to the federal government.

Many Canadians applied for the CERB to deal with the loss of their jobs during the COVID pandemic. Mitchell said she applied while she was battling a possible lung infection.

“I didn’t know what my chances of catching COVID (were) and how detrimental it could be to me,” Mitchell told Gormley. “Because the health-care system cancelled all unnecessary medical testing, I couldn’t get my pulmonary lung testing to go back to work, so my doctors advised I leave work.”

Shortly before the pandemic hit, Mitchell was also on maternity leave and not working at her retail job, which she said is another reason the CRA was looking into her case.

Mitchell said she started receiving calls from the CRA late in 2020, when she began the review process for her income. She said it wasn’t until November of 2021 that she heard back from the CRA, and the organization asked her for more records. That was the same month Mitchell’s mother was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

“They called me back again and they wanted more information as to why I was off and medical information from my doctors,” said Mitchell. “I was so preoccupied with (my mother) and her condition that it slipped my mind to get them that information.”

When Mitchell didn’t follow through on sending in the required income information and documents, she said her case was closed.

Mitchell said she pleaded with the CRA worker who delivered the news to give her more time.

“She told me then on the phone that my only other way to battle it was to go to this judicial review,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell went to court for a judicial review, where she represented herself. The judge ruled that the CRA had not applied procedural fairness in her case, she said, so Mitchell got another shot.

She said her case was reopened and assigned to a different CRA worker.

“It was definitely a struggle, all the paperwork and all the hoops they needed you to jump through,” said Mitchell. “I was ready to pull my hair out sometimes, and other times I was ready to give up, but I pushed through and finally I was able to get to the end.”

After representing herself in court, Mitchell said she is now awaiting a response from the CRA. She said the organization is continuing to review her case to determine whether or not she will have to repay $16,000 from the CERB.