Too many N.S. deadbeat support cases: critics

Nova Scotia's system for child and spousal payments is being criticized for the long list of cases that are in arrears.

In N.S., court-ordered child and spousal support payments are collected and disbursed by the provincial government through its maintenance enforcement program.

It's currently handling nearly 17,000 cases, collecting $60 million last year.

Liberal MLA Kelly Regan said she's astonished by the number of caseswhere people are behind 9,000 in total. Collectively $80-million is owing.

"When we started looking at the cases in arrears that were active, there were over 2,000 cases owing $10,000 or more," said Regan.

She said 95 per cent of cases in maintenance enforcement involve children. She said very few are spousal support only.

Dan Harrison, who works for Nova Scotia's Department of Justice, said the situation is improving.

"Over the last four years we've collected $22-million more than we had before. We now collect more money than we ever have before and our compliance rate is up 10 per cent," said Harrison.

To enforce support payments, the governmentcangarnish wages,seizedriver's licences or placeliens on properties.

Joanne Bernardended up as a single mother on welfare in the 1990s.

"My quality of living went down when my marriage broke up. I didn't come from poverty, I went into poverty because of a lack of enforcement," said Bernard.

On top of the 35 people who work in the program, the government has now assigned a full time investigator to track down deadbeats. That doesn't impress Regan.

"Even if they were focusing that one person on the cases in arrears, if they worked 50 weeks for the year and solved a case a day it would take 36 years to solve them all," said Regan.

Bernard, whonow runs a women's shelter, believes the system is ineffective.

"We see it everyday, it's not getting better. These are not just women who come to Alice Housing, these are teachers, these are architects, these are radio personalities, these are other professional women, these are women that are on income assistance and it transcends all socio-economic barriers."

She may have a chance to act on her criticism.Bernard isconsidering a run for the Liberals innorth-end Dartmouth.