A Vancouver family lawyer has criticized a proposed bill that would allow ICBC, the provincial insurer, to cancel the driver's licence of a so-called deadbeat parent who is behind in child or spousal payments.

Leena Yousefi said the bill, introduced last Tuesday by the NDP government, is "completely flawed" and could hurt people who are struggling to meet their support payments, especially if they have low incomes themselves.

The bill would apply when the payments are in arrears by at least $3,000. Currently, ICBC can only take action when a licence is up for renewal.

"I understand that children need to be paid support, but [this bill] could have a worse effect on obtaining that support," said Yousefi.

"What I see wrong is applying a one-size-fits-all formula to people with various degrees of income and different life situations."

Yousefi says most of her clients seek help because they can't afford their child or spousal support payments. Common factors include a sudden and unexpected job loss, or an accident.

She said clients in these scenarios who have large monthly instalments to pay could see their driver's licence revoked quickly under the new bill.

This could impede a parent's ability to find or maintain work and thus make the payments, said Yousefi, especially if they live in a remote community.

Long court wait times

If parents wish to change how much they are required to pay, they must ask a provincial judge to change the maintenance order that outlines the payments.

But Yousefi said typical wait times for these hearings are about six months to a year. Often family disputes take longer to settle.

"So before you even get in front of a judge to explain what happened, there you are being crippled in your ability to get a new job," she said.

Yousefi would rather the province propose a set amount of time before a licence could be revoked, instead of a set amount of payments in arrears.

9,600 licence restrictions in B.C.

In a written statement earlier this week, the province said there are more than 9,600 parents enrolled in the province's Family Maintenance Enforcement Program who have a driver's licence restriction because they're in arrears in child support payments.

The Family Maintenance Enforcement Program is a voluntary provincial program that collects and transfers payments between parents and can issue enforcement orders like garnishing wages or restricting passports.

As of March 2018, the province said there was $589,659,673 in outstanding child and spousal support payments. The province said that it collects about 91 percent of the $230 million that is due annually.

According to the enforcement program's annual report for 2015-2016, the percentage of people paying spousal support who were receiving some type of government assistance increased to just over 13 per cent.

"An increase in the percentage of payors in receipt of income assistance is of concern as these clients will fall further and further into arrears if they are not able to pay the maintenance required by their court order," the report notes.

The report also acknowledges that those payors face barriers that make it "practically impossible for them to obtain a new court order aligned with their circumstances."

According to the enforcement program report, the average monthly payment made by a parent enrolled in the program was $400 per month.