Government want the CERB payments back

[falling leaves]

Has anyone else got a message off CRA saying they want the CERB payments back?
I opened my CRA account today online, something I didn't expect is a notice saying that they have decided somehow that I wasn't entitled to CERB. As far as I know I was, and I filled in the paperwork and send documentation over at the time and they gave it to me.
I'm a self employed carpenter and I was working a lot less like just about everyone was.
Now the notice which arrived in my inbox 2 months ago gave me 45 days to submit proof I was eligible. I don't go checking my CRA inbox regularly, I don't see a need to do that.
WTF! I wish they'd kept the money! What a pain in the ass.

[cowman]

I am not a fan of our government or our hamhanded ,overbearing response to the covid pandemic/hysteria.

But honestly,when you lay awake at night,do you relive a panic stricken"how am I going to feed my family"memory,or are you like the tradesmen I know,who had people basically begging them to show up and willing to pay 3,4,5 days wages for part of a days work and are now often unwilling to show up for anything over a basic 40 week because a few years ago you could have made 2 or 3 times as much for that job?

Not discounting the stress of early pandemic rent a cops showing up on your worksite,threatening you with jail for being there.....maybe you shrugged your shoulders and said"ok gimme 500 bucks a week and I will just hang at home"

A question,not a judgement..

ymmv

tl/dr Was the cerb used to keep your family fed or was it gravy on top of the best (after tax)years you have ever seen?

[falling leaves]

I am not a fan of our government or our hamhanded ,overbearing response to the covid pandemic/hysteria.

But honestly,when you lay awake at night,do you relive a panic stricken"how am I going to feed my family"memory,or are you like the tradesmen I know,who had people basically begging them to show up and willing to pay 3,4,5 days wages for part of a days work and are now often unwilling to show up for anything over a basic 40 week because a few years ago you could have made 2 or 3 times as much for that job?

Not discounting the stress of early pandemic rent a cops showing up on your worksite,threatening you with jail for being there.....maybe you shrugged your shoulders and said"ok gimme 500 bucks a week and I will just hang at home"

When COVID hit I flew to England in May 2020 to help to nurse my father who had found out he had terminal cancer. He went to my sisters house for his last days and we took it in turns to sleep in his room and give him his meds. Unbeknown to us at first, he'd got COVID in the hospital, then me and my sister also got COVID too. After my dad passed away and I made it back to Canada I was glad to take the CERB that was offered.

A question,not a judgement..

ymmv

tl/dr Was the cerb used to keep your family fed or was it gravy on top of the best (after tax)years you have ever seen?

[Rockies]

I'm no expert on this, but I've heard of this happening to other people to whom their CERB payments were fully legit. I think there is a process to appeal the repayment requirement if you believe you have grounds to stand on.

But I also agree with the other poster, where I live after about the first 2 months of COVID and then for the following 2 years carpenters were making out like bandits. If you ended up making a huge amount of money after the initial short lock down shock perhaps you should just pay it back.

[falling leaves]

Donate it back to the government, I hadn't thought about that one.