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Dale Strohmaier’s official time of death was some time in 2015 — he’s not sure exactly when, or why.

In fact, he wasn’t aware of his demise until Monday.

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That’s when Strohmaier ripped open an envelope addressed to “the estate of the late Dale Strohmaier” from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), on behalf of the Alberta government. The document, a notice from the Alberta climate leadership adjustment rebate, said dead people aren’t entitled to carbon tax rebates.

The letter told Strohmaier’s estate to pay back $575 in carbon tax rebates he’d received since 2017.

Another envelope arrived from the CRA on Tuesday. It was clawing back $1,448.60 in GST rebates he’d received since his purported death in 2015.

“Who phones the government and says, ‘Hi. I’m dead,'” the unquestionably alive Strohmaier said Wednesday morning while sitting at the kitchen table in his Castle Downs basement suite.

His case also raises questions about a 2017 pledge by the Alberta government to stop clawing back carbon tax rebates from deceased people.