REGINA – Deadbeat parents who don’t pay child support could be denied hunting and fishing licences in Saskatchewan.
The province introduced legislation Thursday to restrict such licences for people who fail to make child or spousal support payments.
“I think that people have an obligation to support their families and, when these court orders are in place, I think that people need to take responsibility for that,” said Justice Minister Gord Wyant.
He said restricting hunting and fishing licences would be used when other enforcement options didn’t work.
Those options include seizing wages and payments to people from the federal government and suspending driver’s licences or passports.
“This is just another tool to help enforcement. Currently, we’re at 91 per cent enforcement – one of the highest in the country – which we’re very proud of, so this is just another tool. How it translates in terms of increasing that enforcement number, we’ll wait and see.”
Wyant said Saskatchewan hopes to have all the rules in place by the middle of next year.
The province says Alberta and Nova Scotia have similar legislation, while Newfoundland and Labrador refuses big-game licences if people owe money.
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