Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to address the situation that occurred recently to a single mom in Hay River, one that causes me a great deal of concern and raises many questions around maintenance enforcement. Mr. Speaker, the lady I refer to is a single mom with three children to support who has gone through the courts for some time for financial help. She is currently not receiving anything in the way of maintenance enforcement payments, as the father of the children is in arrears with maintenance enforcement.

Recently, Mr. Speaker, the sheriff's office commenced a seizure of some of the dad's goods in order to pay down some of the maintenance arrears. The mom was told that she should be provided with the proceeds from the sale of the goods. Here comes the kicker, Mr. Speaker. The goods were sold at auction. After all was said and done, the single mom with the three kids realized nothing by way of monies from the sale. Mr. Speaker, I was informed that it is standard practice for the sheriff's office to charge a fee for seizing the goods and for storage of such goods. This is why the single mom did not receive any of the money from the auction. Mr. Speaker, to my way of thinking, the sheriff is an employee of this government. As such, any work he carries out in the performance of his duties should be just the cost of doing business. That should not be borne on the backs of single moms. Mr. Speaker, I would think that surely we, as a government, can come up with another solution to address single moms who are struggling to make ends meet. They should not be doubly burdened as a result of actions from this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause