Re: “Rat on your neighbour?,” by Lindsey Wallis, June 4-June 10, 2009

I read with some interest this story. While it is unfortunate that the department of justice, through its maintenance enforcement program (MEP), is having difficulty locating child support debtors who owe arrears in the six-or seven-figure range, I can advise that at the low, vulnerable end of the spectrum, the situation is much different.

I am currently in receipt of income support through Alberta Employment and Immigration, and have been pursuing medical treatment on a full-time basis. My child support balance owing (less than $3,000) has fallen into arrears, as I have been able to work only sporadically over the past 12 months. I am currently attempting to return to work (and resume payments on my obligations), while continuing my therapy on a less intensive basis. Nevertheless, on May 8, I discovered that MEP had instructed my bank to freeze my monies on deposit (in the absence of any earned income for them to garnishee) and to remit the totality of my deposits (including my income support payments) to MEP. This was done without warning, while I was in full-time treatment.

While I have had conversations with several representatives of MEP since that date (never the same person twice), I have received no written confirmation of this action, nor any correspondence other than unsigned, anonymous form letters — none of which provide an accounting of my monies or a contact person in a position to deal with the matter.

I was gratified to see that in your story you were able to obtain both a name and a quotation from a representative of Alberta Justice. This is more than I have been able to accomplish. Perhaps you would be interested in questioning your source at Alberta Justice, Alison Burns, as to the effectiveness of MEP’s actions in my case, which involves neither a large sum of money nor an “intentional neglect” of my obligations but rather heavy-handed and abusive (and anonymous and unaccountable) conduct by MEP, which has the effect of frustrating my attempts to meet my obligations despite a complete lack of resources and frankly, very little hope.

Benjamin Davenport,

Calgary