More enforcement needed for child support payments: Whalen
Posted Apr 12, 2010 06:15:31 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nearly $85 million in child support payments are not being made in Nova Scotia, and one politician is calling for tougher action.
But Liberal MLA Diana Whalen says payment rates have actually improved.
“The auditor general did a study of the Maintenance Enforcement Program
about three years ago and it was around $100 million in arrears,” she said.
“I think it’s shocking and horrible. He said it was the worst managed area that he had ever looked at.”
The auditor general has just given his latest update showing a $15 million improvement, some of which came from taking lottery winnings away from delinquent parents.
But Whalen says the enforcement program can and should be doing more to recover the money – and she’s asked for a detailed report on the efforts.
“I’d like to know, for example, if you have 10,000 delinquent accounts, how many have you taken the driver’s license, or made efforts to garnish the wages,” she said.
Whalen suggests considering punitive measures in other jurisdictions, like charging interest on child support payments that are in arrears.
