In several Canadian provinces (including Nova Scotia) child support payments are deducted from social assistance. A group of single mothers in British Columbia has launched a court challenge against this policy:
The case will argue that the deduction of child support payments from income and disability assistance violates single parent’s right to equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights an Freedoms.
Milne said the law is unconstitutional because it conflicts with the purposes of the child support system, denies the children of parents on income or disability assistance the right to benefit from their child support, and has a disproportionately negative impact on parents with disabilities and single mothers.
“Other kinds of families are better able to earn other kinds of income and they are allowed to keep some of it before it is deducted from their income or disability assistance,” said Viveca Ellis of the Single Mothers’ Alliance of B.C. “Meanwhile, these vulnerable children have an opportunity for better lives through their child support, but they are not allowed to benefit from it and their parents experience additional financial consequences.”
I’m not aware of any court rulings on this issue, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. (There is a PEI Human Rights Panel decision which found that the clawback was not discriminatory, but that wasn’t a Charter case.)
Filed under: Family Law Tagged: british columbia, child support, family law, social assistance
