Nova Scotia may use Facebook to hunt for deadbeat parents
Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter possible avenues for maintenance enforcement trackers
The Nova Scotia government is looking to harness the power of social media to try to track down parents who repeatedly fail to pay their court-ordered support payments.
Maintenance Enforcement staff are currently limited to mailing or phoning someone in arrears to notify them and attempt to get the money due.
Justice Minister Diana Whalen says finding a proper address or phone number for someone who is shirking their responsibilities isn't easy.
What's frustrating for the person waiting for payment, is the fact their spouse may have an active online presence.
"So if we have an email address we could email them," said Whalen. "Or if we know their Facebook we could put a Facebook message.
"There are other ways. If we're thinking electronically it could be Twitter with messages or Linkedin."
Using Facebook to track deadbeats
Whalen said the province may change the law to deem any electronic message sent to be an official notice, and that message could be assumed to have been received after 10 days.
The Justice Department is also considering following the lead of Ontario and Alberta, and setting up a website dedicated to posting the images and names of deadbeat parents. Whalen said the site would profile only those who consistently don't pay and are in arrears at least six months.
Although the public posting carries some shame, the minister said that's not the goal.
"People who don't want to pay often disappear and they are very hard to locate," she said. "So this is a final measure really to ask the public's assistance."
Despite that, the minister appears to have little sympathy for anyone who would be embarrassed by the public post.
"You have to remember that the people who not making these payments are people who are ignoring court orders and ignoring their responsibilities to their family and to their children."
Embarrassment
Whalen is sensitive to the fact some people owed money might not want their partner's picture posted.
"I would never say that we'd do it if the family did not want it posted," she said. "I agree that there could be some embarrassment there but this is not about that. It's about locating people who have a court order to provide support to their children."
As of March 31, 2016, uncollected payments owed to spouses and children totaled $62.1 million.
The Justice Department is looking for feedback on these ideas. It has launched a survey that will be active online until the end of May.