Alberta settles $100M case over financial assistance payments
Last Updated: Monday, January 16, 2006 | 4:07 PM ET
CBC News
The settlement could affect up to 30,000 Albertans who received benefits through the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program, the welfare program or widows' pensions.
The lawsuit claimed the Conservative government of Premier Ralph Klein improperly withheld allowances for some people on the programs and was unfairly punitive in the manner it tried to reclaim money it said was overpaid.
Alberta quietly agreed to the settlement, which has been approved by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench.
Disabled man asked to repay $16,000 after administrative error
Curtis Roth, who has been receiving disabled benefits, and Donald Fitfield, an amputee with a fused spine also on AISH, filed the class-action lawsuit in September 2004.
They alleged that their benefits were arbitrarily docked for the full amounts of overpayments that were caused by administrative errors. They also said they weren't fully compensated when the government underpaid them.
Roth said he was told in 1996 that the monthly AISH benefits he was receiving were too low and would be increased.
However, the government started overpaying him. When the mistake was discovered four years later, officials told Roth he would need to pay back the $16,000 extra he'd been given.
"It made me very angry that a debt had been created for me, at no fault of my own," he said. "It was just a matter of an administrative error.
"I'm very happy with the outcome of the settlement."
'I have probably 35 years of anger'
Fitfield, who has been receiving disabled benefits since he was injured in 1983, said he and his wife were delighted by news of the settlement.
"I was crying, because I have probably 35 years of anger, disillusionment, probably hate, in me for what they've done to us over many, many years," said Carol Fitfield, who has multiple sclerosis.
Fitfield said his benefits were docked once because the government claimed that he failed to report that his wife had found a temporary minimum-wage job. The government later established that officials had been told of the job.
On another occasion, the Fitfields say they received December benefits, then were contacted by officials who asked them to send the money back.
On the flip side, Fitfield alleges his disabled benefits were underpaid by as much as $10,000 in the 1980s – yet at the time the province limited restitution to a maximum of six months.
Talks with government 'far from easy,' lawyer says
Philip Tinkler, the lawyer for the suit, said the government's actions caused "very real human suffering" because it affected people who used the funds to purchase basic necessities such as food and shelter.
He said anyone who believes they are entitled to part of the settlement has a year to file a claim, and doesn't have to still be living in the province.
Tinkler also said the Klein government never admitted liability and that "negotiations with it were far from easy."
Provincial Liberals call for formal apology
Kevin Taft, who leads the provincial Liberal party, said Klein should offer a formal apology to the victims.
He also questioned why the government settled quietly out of court.
"It makes you wonder how many more skeletons are there on how many other issues," he said.
CBC News tried to reach a spokesperson from Alberta Human Resources and Employment, but no one was available for comment.
