There are a lot of questions about the Province’s Recovery Benefit after applicants received emails demanding more personal information.

The Province has said it would take ‘a couple of days’ for people to get their money deposited directly. However, over the weekend many people got emails from the province demanding all sorts of proof that they were eligible for the $500 or $1,000 benefit.

Documents requested include entire 2019 tax returns, copies of your passport or drivers licence, and bills that include the time period including Dec. 18 on them, proving they live in the province.

Kamloops North Thompson MLA and Opposition Labour critic Peter Milobar lashed out at Finance Minister Selina Robinson.

“The Government kept touting how 3.7 million people were going to be able to qualify for this and now they sound surprised that there was going to be high demand? You know it’s just across the map been poorly handled,” he said on the NL Morning News. “The Ministry has been deadly silent on this. Where is the Minister of Finance been on this? Nothing.”

“She’s completely silent on this, it’s not acceptable. We have no idea what the scope of this is. I reached to all of my colleague, within our caucus, they’re all getting the same emails, it all kind of lit up at the same time which means it must have been a mass email that went out at the same time.”

He says a number of people applied on Friday when applications opened, noting it took two-and-a-half days for them to get the email asking for more information.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said it understands the frustration of people who have been bogged down by delays in applying for the benefit, noting it expects to disburse $282 million this week.

“Call centre agents are working to process these applications and get the benefit to people as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

“So far over 394,000 applications have been fully processed and these funds should appear in accounts within a few days. This includes over 558,000 people (200,000 single people, 30,000 single parents, and 164,000 couples.”

As far as the demand for extra information, the province says ‘in certain circumstances additional information is required before an application can be completed. That is why some applicants have received follow-up correspondence. Staff will be working with this applicants to complete their applications as quickly as possible.'”

Milobar though wonders, with all the information being demanded, if there isn’t something else at play.

“It sounds like data mining and frankly, it’s shocking to be how much data this government has been wanting over the last four years when you consider their Attorney General was the former head of the BC Civil Liberties Union and here they are, a government that has done nothing but collect people’s data in ways that’s never happened provincially before,” he added.

“They want your driver’s licence, okay fair enough. That has your address on it. They want your full income tax return, that has your address on it. Why do they need phone bills? Why do they need hydro bills? Why do they need bank statements? Why is it any business of the government what your bank statement does or doesn’t say? Why is it any of their business what your full income tax form says?”

Milobar adds the delay has the potential to mess up a lot of people’s plans.

“Now what we’re hearing from constituents is they’re concerned that they won’t actually have this done and the money in their account in time for rent,” he said.

“So, people were planning accordingly, knowing they were well under the income thresholds to qualify and now they’re not even sure if they’re going to have their rent money for the beginning of the month because of this hiccup.”

Milobar says its up to Premier John Horgan to set the record straight. “It is just poorly handled in the extreme and the Government needs to be held to account for this.”