OTTAWA — Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre will not intervene to ensure a terminally ill Alberta man denied Canada Pension Plan disability benefits finally gets his payments.
Peter McClure, 62, is suffering from lung and rectal cancer and has outlived his doctor's prognosis.
McClure says he was told by Service Canada 18 months ago that his condition wasn't severe or prolonged enough to qualify for CPP disability, and advised to apply for CPP retirement benefits instead, which pay significantly less.
The government's social security tribunal recently expedited McClure's CPP disability appeal, but ultimately told him its hands were tied because he was already receiving retirement benefits.
Provisions in CPP legislation give Poilievre, as minister, special authority to intervene if people have been denied benefits due to erroneous advice.
Weeks after first being asked the question — and requiring a waiver signed by McClure to speak about his case — Poilievre's office says that won't be happening.
In an email, Poilievre spokesman Aaron Block says that both the minister and the tribunal are "bound" by the legislation when determining whether a person meets CPP disability requirements.
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