Conservatives trying to cover-up social security tribunal failures

After leaving thousands of Canadians waiting years to even obtain a Social Security Tribunal hearing, Conservatives have been caught trying to hide information about how broken the Tribunal system really is.

An Access to Information request obtained by Canadian Press revealed that the Social Security Tribunal is no longer tracking the success and failure rates of Canada Pension Plan disability appeals.

“This is a fundamental principle of justice,” said NDP critic for Employment and Social Development Jinny Sims (Newton – North Delta). “First, the Tribunal refused to publish all its decisions and now they’re trying to hide how many people are losing their appeals.”

Information previously obtained by the NDP reveals that the Social Security Tribunal is not tracking wait times either, even though the number of Canadians waiting for a hearing is in the thousands. The Tribunal revealed in a memo to the Minister that they did not intend to eliminate the backlog before 2017, at the earliest.

“The Conservatives have completely broken the appeals system and its citizens who are paying the price,” added Sadia Groguhé (Saint-Lambert), NDP Deputy critic for Employment and Social Development. “These are unemployed people, persons with disabilities, and seniors who have no income and need to pay their bills and buy their groceries. They can’t be asked just to wait years for the government to get its act together.”