Thank you. Mr. Speaker, no child should go hungry or be without proper clothes or other needs simply because he or she is caught in the middle of a family break-up. Every child deserves to receive proper parental support, including financial support. As the saying goes, Mr. Speaker, "it should not hurt to be a child." I rise today to speak on the topic of child support, and the enforcement of agreements and court ordered maintenance payments.
Once a parent has a court order or a written agreement requiring a payment of either child or spousal support, they can ask Maintenance Enforcement to collect and monitor the payments by completing a registration package and sending it to the Maintenance Enforcement Office. Last year, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice collected over $2.7 million dollars for people registered with the program.
While many people voluntarily make their payments through Maintenance Enforcement, some go to great lengths to avoid making payments. This saddens me because the only ones who suffer are the children when this happens.
If a person is not making voluntary payments, the Maintenance Enforcement Administrator has the discretion to take whatever steps she feels are reasonable to enforce the order. This includes seizing wages, assets, Employment Insurance payments and income tax refunds. In extreme cases, the administrator can go to court and ask that the individual be imprisoned for up to 90 days.
The workload in the Maintenance Enforcement Office continues to grow. We are in the process of installing systems that will make the office more efficient and easier to use. The Department of Justice is also using federal funds to increase awareness of maintenance obligations and enforcement across the territories. Part of this awareness campaign will be aimed at young people. It will inform them not only of their rights, but also of their obligations to support their children.
I will provide my colleagues with some promotional material that has been produced for general distribution, and some registration packages for the Maintenance Enforcement Program. Please feel free to distribute these to your constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.