Uh, Premier Stefanson? About that money you owe us… Province in no hurry to give back nearly $20M of Manitobans’ unclaimed cash By: Dylan Robertson Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2022 (855 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is holding onto nearly $20 million of taxpayers’ unclaimed cash — with no plan to inform them about money that is rightfully theirs — despite a promise by Premier Heather Stefanson to help Manitobans amid skyrocketing inflation.

“There is less than $20 million of historical payments from the Province of Manitoba that have been unclaimed up to 2021,” a Manitoba Finance spokesman confirmed, following a query by the Free Press.

The cash is made up of unclaimed tax rebates, court payments, pensions and credit-union account balances, as well as bonds, estates and insurance benefits.

As inflation wreaks havoc on households, the Canada Revenue Agency has launched a public-awareness campaign in an attempt to get $1.4 billion in unclaimed balances into people’s bank accounts.

Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick have created online systems for residents to check whether their government owes them cash. The Bank of Canada similarly has a database for looking up $1.8 billion in untouched balances remitted by private banks years ago.

The independent Manitoba Law Reform Commission noted in a October 2019 advisory that the province is falling behind its peers.

“Every year thousands of individuals are reunited with their money in provinces that have an established process for unclaimed property,” the commission wrote.

“In Manitoba, no such process exists.”

The commission, which advises the government on modernizing laws, surveyed how other jurisdictions make sure taxpayers get what they’re owed.

In a January 2021 report it called for “the establishment and administration of a searchable online database of potential owners and unclaimed property available to the public” along with “frequent publicizing of the program and the database.”

Nineteen months later, the province says it’s still studying that report and hasn’t taken any action yet, which perplexes the NDP.

“If Manitobans owed the government money, they’d be all over them, and they’d be incredibly aggressive in trying to collect it,” said NDP finance critic Mark Wasyliw.

“Here, people are owed money by the government, and they just seem to have no interest or urgency.”

The commission found that most unclaimed property ends up in the province’s consolidated fund, which requires cabinet approval for each withdrawal. The commission suggested moving those funds into a more-accessible government bank account, which might have the side benefit of the total amount being reported in annual financials.

An interview request with the justice minister was diverted Tuesday to Finance Minister Cameron Friesen; his office had no response by deadline.

Instead, the public service said it’s aware of the issue.

“Manitoba continues to review and consider the (commission’s) recommendations,” a government spokesman wrote.

“Government routinely issues an advertisement/notice to inform Manitobans generally, regarding depositing unclaimed payments,” the spokesman wrote, giving the example of reminders for people to deposit their education tax rebate cheque, or request a reissued cheque if they never got one.

For court funds, the province does publish notices of unclaimed cash in the Manitoba Gazette, a dry regulatory newsletter that is predominantly read by lobbyists and journalists. The funds are moved into government coffers after six years, but Manitobans can still file claims to get that cash back.

Even mentioning the regulatory Gazette “that no real person would read” shows the province’s lack of action, said Wasyliw, the MLA for Fort Garry.

“That’s a cop-out and I think that response speaks for itself, that they don’t have a plan. That they were caught flat-footed on this issue and they were desperate, searching for some type of excuse,” he argued.

Last Thursday, Stefanson said her government is pondering inflation relief, such as sending out cheques to residents, or lowering taxes.

Yet there’s been no mention of modernizing how unclaimed cash can be accessed. The commission said the current process “is cumbersome for the government, and impractical for individuals seeking to claim vacant or unclaimed property.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca