Minister responsible for Ontario's Family Responsibility
Office admits liability and will pay damages
October 25, 2006
Transcripts from the Hansard - Legislative Assembly of
Ontario - Question period
FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY OFFICE
Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): My question is
for the Minister of Community and Social Services. The FRO
mistakenly issued my constituent Brandi Thorne a manual
cheque for her September support payment and then deposited
the same amount into her bank account, so she went and ripped
up the cheque. The FRO is now withholding her October payment
as security in case the cheque is actually cashed, but this
was after the FRO told Ms. Thorne to complete the lost-cheque
form, have it notarized and return it to them, which is
everything she did. In fact, she took an unpaid day off
work to get the form sworn as an affidavit. But now the
FRO says that her funds are going to stay frozen for up
to another 30 days anyway, just to make sure that the cheque
isn't cashed.
My question is twofold, Minister: Why haven't you fixed
the FRO computer problems that lead to these kinds of situations,
and will you intervene personally to unlock the FRO's deep-freeze
and ensure that Brandi Thorne gets access to the money she
needs?
Hon. Madeleine Meilleur (Minister of Community and Social
Services, minister responsible for francophone affairs):
Hon. Madeleine Meilleur: Yes, there was some difficulty
early in September with the computer system at the Family
Responsibility Office. We were very quick in responding
and providing cheques to those in need. Unfortunately, after
that, some received two cheques. We are trying to correct
the situation, and we have communicated with the individuals
involved and tried to solve the problem.
If the member from the third party has a problem, I cannot
discuss it; she knows perfectly that I cannot discuss any
particular case in this House. But I'll be willing and glad
to sit down and try to understand and work out a solution.
Ms. Horwath: Minister, the FRO told my constituent
to provide a sworn oath, and then they bumped her to the
back of the red-tape lineup while withholding her support
payments. Listen to what Ms. Thorne says -- this is in her
own words: "Between now and November 1, I have daycare to
pay for, my fifth mortgage payment on my very first house,
car and house insurance and two cheques for school photos,
all of which will bounce and cost me more money."
Minister, many women have been hit with bank penalties,
late payment fees and interest charges because of your FRO
boondoggle. Along with fixing Ms. Thorne's specific issues,
will the McGuinty government agree to reimburse all FRO
clients for their extra costs resulting from your inability
to get their support payments to them on time, just like
you were trying to get when you were in opposition?
Hon. Mrs. Meilleur: I say to the member of the third
party that the FRO is a good process and helps a lot of
individuals, especially women, to get the benefits they
should get from the payers. I will also say that we were
very quick in responding to the problems we experienced
because of an old system that we're in the process of replacing.
I will offer this: Why don't you call my office and we will
work to help this lady to solve her problem?
If some of them
have experienced extra fees, we will look at each individual
case and support and help them through this difficult time.
Link to Hansard
Does this mean that the Government of Ontario is going
to pay support payers and recipients for lost wages, out
of pocket expenses, fees for recipients own NSF cheques,
the pain, aggravation and suffering in the form of punitive
and exemplary damages.
Obviously relationships between support payers and support
recipients are damaged with questions made by the recipients
to the payers questioning the authenticity of payment claims
to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) since FRO has
failed frequently over a long period of time to properly
administer funds in a timely manner in such an important
situation of holding funds in trust.
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