5/16/2011...Maintenance Enforcement Hearing

  First things first. The box had to go to UPS. I was told there was overnight delivery to Canada and that I would get my money back if it did not arrive on time. They could not guarantee that it would not be held up at the border. We would soon know. I opted for 2 day delivery for $85. D was to get it on Wednesday afternoon. This was very hopeful.
 Secondly, D's hearing took place at 1400 Manitoba time. D went before a Master (a judicial officer appointed under section 11.1) and a Prosecutor, both representing the Crown who is on the same side as the petitioner (Sharon). The prosecutor stated that she was surprised that Sharon was not there. D's sister Krista was there with him.
  There was a dialogue between the 2 parties and no resolution. The Crown (prosecuting party) made no decisions as they seemed to be in the dark about all of the events surrounding D's case. They were ill prepared. The arrest warrant and the contempt of court charges were both brought up. They did not wish to dismiss these as they were uncertain of the reciprocity between the 2 countries.  Krista asked that these be dismissed as D had already been convicted of contempt and would face arrest in AZ upon his return. He could not be convicted twice of the same charges. They opted to adjourn the hearing to June 20th. D felt that they did not seem to understand that it was the Maintenance Enforcement in Canada that pushed the AZ Courts to honor the existing orders for child support. The trigger was pulled in Manitoba. The confusion remains a mystery.
  Here is an exerpt fom the Manitoba Department of Justice/Family Justice/Family Law website:

"Enforcing Support Provisions Against Persons Living Outside Manitoba

If a support payor lives outside of Manitoba, the order or agreement can be registered and enforced elsewhere in Canada, and even in another country as long as Manitoba has mutual maintenance enforcement arrangements with that country - a reciprocating jurisdiction."

   The positive outcome from the hearing was that the Crown was not going to elevate this to a show cause hearing. That was indeed good news! We must look at the bright side. We were grateful.

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