Months after Kamloops man proves he’s alive, wife receives notice she’s a widow

Jan 7, 2018 | 11:51 AM

KAMLOOPS — How much does one man have to do to prove he’s alive?

That’s the frustration Kamloops man Bryan Kupiak is still enduring, months after his social insurance number was mixed up with his mother’s on her death certificate. 

On Thanksgiving Day he found out he was no longer alive according to the federal government, receiving an Old Age Security statement addressed to his estate.

With some help from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod’s office he was quickly brought back to life. 

However, on Sunday Kupiak’s wife received a GST notice that didn’t quite add up. 

“It tells her that she’s going to be getting $320 from GST,” Kupiak said, “and down at the bottom it says ‘Information used to calculate your entitlement, Marital Status: Widow.’”

Kupiak says dealing with the bureaucratic mix up is “too much to handle.”

He plans to visit McLeod’s office once again to try and sort out this latest debacle. 

“I figure, okay we’re good, and then now my wife’s a widow. That means I’m still dead.”