B.C. man fights to prove he’s alive after bureaucratic error declares him dead

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A British Columbia man who recently lost his mother is fighting for his own life after a bureaucratic mix-up declared him dead.

Bryan Kupiak, who is 65 and from Kamloops, is healthy but says somehow his social insurance number was substituted for his mother’s after she died in September.

A death certificate with Kupiak’s name on it was issued to his estate.

He says the mix-up has cost him access to his own pension and he has also had to ensure his bank accounts, driver’s licence and other important documents and services have not been compromised.

Kupiak has been working with Service Canada and his member of Parliament but says the stress is intense.

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He has been told it could take another month or more to resolve the problem.

A telephone call to an official at the old age security office, which handles pension issues, confirmed Kupiak’s predicament.

“He comes back on (the line) and I said, ‘Tell me, Mohammed, am I dead or alive?’ and he says, ‘You’re deceased.’”

Kupiak says the hardship is especially difficult to endure because he is still grieving the loss of his 87-year-old mother. (CFJC)

The Canadian Press