Close to $45-million in outstanding fines is now owed to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but government has yet to provide details on how they plan to recoup the money.
In 2019 the Department of Justice announced the Community Service Pilot Program for people to work off their outstanding fines. Since then the amount owed has increased by nearly $2-million.
VOCM reached out to the department for an interview about the status of the pilot project, and received a statement saying “extensive work has been ongoing to establish a pilot program to address outstanding fines.”
Independent MHA Paul Lane says the province could make good use of the chunk of money owed, but the government may need to just face the facts. He says we need to make the fundamental decision and say that we’ve made all reasonable efforts to collect this money, and write it off instead of using the money as a plank in the political platform every four years, when realistically we know the province isn’t going to see any of the money.
The amount owed includes fines imposed by the provincial court for criminal violations, contraband tobacco, victim fine surcharges, etc., fines resulting from a summary offence ticket for offences under the Highway Traffic Act and other legislation, and fines resulting from parking violations.
The statement from the Department of Justice and Public Safety can be read below.
As of June 30, 2022 there have been a total of $44.9 million in outstanding fines owed to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Approximately 80 per cent of people pay their fines voluntarily. In fiscal year 2021-22, there has been $6.8 million collected for fines, surcharges and late fees.
Extensive work has been ongoing to establish a pilot program to address outstanding fines. Since announcing plans for the program, many individuals inquiring about the program have successfully entered into a payment arrangement with the Fines Administration Division and are now actively paying off their fines. There were 180 payment agreements set up in 2018-19, 236 in 2019-20, 195 in 2020-21, 178 in 2021-22, and as of September 6, 2022 there have been 69 payment agreements set up for fiscal year 2022-23.