Justice Minister refutes accusations about support enforcement caseloads

Justice Minister and Attorney General Kelvin Parsons is refuting accusations by Tom Hanlon, president of the Newfoundland Association of Public Employees (NAPE), that support enforcement officer caseloads in the province are �grossly out of sync with the rest of Canada�.

The province�s Support Enforcement Program has 10 enforcement officers who share 7,096 files. This figure translates into approximately 710 cases each. Of these accounts, 3,603 or 50.78 per cent, require continuous enforcement action. The remaining 3,493 cases or 49.22 per cent, are active accounts where support is either current or less than 30 days overdue. This category also includes accounts whereby a �stay of enforcement� has been ordered by the Court. "Under these circumstances, support enforcement is prevented from collecting all or part of the outstanding arrears, and a debtor pays an amount deemed feasible by the Court," explained Minister Parsons.

Mr. Hanlon has stated that in some provinces, officers handle less than 100 files each, which he says expedites the process of collecting child support. "Research conducted by my department indicates this statement is not correct," stated the minister. "New Brunswick has 18 enforcement officers, each carrying a caseload of 700 files; Nova Scotia has 21 enforcement officers with a caseload of 705 files per officer; Ontario has 229 officers with 750 cases per officer, and the province of Prince Edward Island has two enforcement officers, each carrying a caseload of 1,250 files."

Compared to other jurisdictions across the country, Minister Parsons said the average caseload per enforcement officer is about the same. "All jurisdictions face the same kinds of collection problems as we do, and all provinces cooperate in their efforts to collect. Newfoundland and Labrador, along with the rest of Canada, is continuously looking for ways to better locate defaulting parents and collect on accounts in a timely manner. Defaulting on child support payments is a serious issue and I understand the frustrations of mothers and their children who depend on this money."

The federal government through legislation, allows support enforcement agencies to seize bank accounts, income tax refunds, employment insurance and Canada Pension Plan funds. The agencies also have the authority to suspend federally-issued licences and permits such as pilot licences and passports. "In some provinces, legislation has been passed to suspend the drivers� licences of defaulting parents," said Minister Parsons. "Maybe this is something Newfoundland and Labrador should consider in an effort to recover support enforcement arrears."

"For accounts where debtors are living outside the province, we must rely on other enforcement agencies to assist in the collection of support, thus adding to their individual caseloads," explained the minister. "We can�t collect from debtors living on social assistance, and are limited to the amounts we can collect on �stay of enforcement� orders."

Since its inception in May of 1989, Newfoundland and Labrador�s Support Enforcement Program has collected over $115 million from debtors. For the fiscal year 1999/2000, it collected over $17 million. "This total speaks volumes and is an obvious success story," said Minister Parsons.

Media contact: Kathy Dicks-Peyton, Communications, (709) 729-6564.

2000 08 03                          10:45 a.m.