The COVID-19 crisis in Manitoba sees many people taking measures to practice social distancing, while planning on how they will recover financially once things get back to normal in our Province. The government of Canada is now proposing a 4-month financial aid plan for many out of work people. 

However there is a group of people negatively impacted by this is in a way that could easily be mitigated, and that is parents that have had or will soon have administrative enforcement actions taken against them by the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP).

For parents that fall behind in child support for whatever reason, MEP's administrative enforcement actions can consistent of that parent having their drivers license taken away, their ability to register a vehicle restricted, their passport seized, their bank accounts frozen, and further actions like liens on property. 

These measures makes it more difficult for a parent in the best of times who is trying to get caught up on support payments, or to make arrangements for payment of arrears. MEP enforces child support orders in a black and white manner; there will be no relief for people that have lost jobs or income due to COVID-19 closures. If people were current and they get behind in this time of crisis, administrative enforcement will kick in automatically. If people were already behind, this will put them more behind. 

To address the societal and financial effects of COVID-19 we propose a 4 month freeze on MEP starting any administrative enforcement against individuals, and to withdraw administrative enforcement already in place. 

The purpose of this is;

1. Social Distancing - for parents that have lost their license due to MEP administrative enforcement, they likely rely on taxi or transit. If they have access to a car, they should be able to use it so they can more effectively isolate themselves from the general public; especially if they are using these transportation methods with their children in their care. This is also true for having a bank account for online transactions, less time in stores and around other people. 

2. Economic Recovery - Resources are needed to recover from economic downturns, let's give these people a fighting chance to add to the economic recovery period Manitoba will be going through by giving them access to their resources like a vehicle, online banking, etc.   

3. Court Closures - The Family Courts in Manitoba are effectively closed and once they are opened back up there will be a large backlog of cases. This leaves no measure for temporary arrangements for relief through the court system. 

4. MEP Application - It is possible to apply for suspension of Administrative Enforcement directly to MEP, however it will be up to individual case workers to grant it, and MEP are often slow to respond to inquires and applications, sometimes up to 6 weeks. In that amount of time someone who recently lost their work due to COVID-19 shutdowns will have missed 3 child support payments and administrative enforcement measures will have been enacted against them due to no fault of their own. 

We call upon Minister of Justice Cliff Cullen to suspend all Administrative Enforcement activities by the Maintenance Enforcement Program for a period of 4 months.