From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Dead Man Claims to be Alive - Canada Revenue Agency Disagrees : CRA SOTW   
      
   Hamilton Spectator    
   ByChris Setomailto:cseto@guelphmercury.com    
      
   GUELPH Mark Villeneuve says he was shocked to find out he was dead. He had no   
   idea.    
      
   The 45-year-old man received a letter from Canada Revenue Agency in November   
   addressed to "the estate of the late Mark Villeneuve," notifying the recipient   
   of money owed. The recipient of the letter was asked to pay back an   
   already-cashed GST credit, due    
   to Villeneuve's supposed passing.    
      
   Earlier this month, another document arrived from Human Resources and Skills   
   Development Canada Pension Plan, also referencing the man's demise. Villeneuve   
   said he was surprised and laughed at the mistake, but was concerned at the   
   same time. He wanted to    
   know how the government came to the conclusion he was dead.    
      
   During an interview last week, he displayed the different federal documents on   
   a table in his Guelph apartment building along with his driver's license, to   
   prove his identity.    
      
   When Villeneuve called the revenue agency to inform them of the mistake, he   
   said he was told someone may have mistakenly provided his social insurance   
   number when reporting someone else's death. Either that, or the number someone   
   else provided was typed    
   in wrong into their database.    
      
   "Don't they require a death certificate?" he said, adding the mix up was   
   surprising and frustrating. "Somebody could prank and call in and say someone   
   had died."    
      
   Villeneuve has been receiving monthly disability payments from Canada Pension   
   Plan since June of 2014. He said he left Linamar in the fall of 2013 due to   
   health reasons.    
      
   When he received his cheque from Canada Pension Plan earlier this month, the   
   statement had a different nine-digit number in the social insurance number   
   column.    
      
   He said the agency told him it was his account number, but Villeneuve didn't   
   buy it.    
      
   "That's somebody else's SIN number," he said. "If I have someone else's social   
   insurance number, it's totally possible for my social insurance number to be   
   on someone else's cheque."    
      
   The statement also had a different code written on it. Instead of the code for   
   "disability pension", which was usually there, there was a code for "death   
   benefit".    
      
   Last week, Villeneuve signed a disclosure consenting to allow Canada Pension   
   Plan officials to provide information about his case to the Guelph Mercury.   
   Although government officials received the disclosure last week, they have not   
   responded to media    
   requests for comment.    
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency was also not available for a telephone interview,   
   but it provided an email response.    
      
   The agency is most often notified of date of death information through the   
   provincial vital statistics offices, such as ServiceOntario, said agency   
   spokesperson Neil Shalapata. When an individual calls to report that someone   
   has died, they are asked to    
   provide a complete copy of the will, signed and witnessed under provincial law   
   as well as the death certificate.    
      
   Shalapata said he could not comment on Villeneuve's case specifically, but   
   said whenever the agency has incorrect information, immediate steps are taken   
   to correct the records.    
      
   "In cases where the source of the mistake is known, the CRA does follow-up   
   with the taxpayer," he said.    
   Villeneuve is still waiting for answers from Canada Revenue Agency in how the   
   service came to think he was dead. The Guelph man said he's now demanding the   
   agency provide proof to him that it did not give him someone else's social   
   insurance number.    
      
   Because he hasn't heard a straight answer from the government since the   
   incident began last fall, he said he's actively worried about identity theft.    
      
   "Our social insurance numbers could be flying all over the place," he said.    
      
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