A federal fund set up to assist parents whose children have been murdered or gone missing has spent 14 times as much on administration costs as it has on actual grants.
Internal government documents obtained by The Canadian Press show the fund doled out $170,000 in grants as of March 2015, but spent $2.4-million on costs, not including employee benefits.
Documents outlining the gaping disparity also underline how stringent criteria has made many parents ineligible for the fund.
The spending shortfall has prompted Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos to consider changes.
Meantime, it was just last week, Niagara Regional Chair Alan Caslin penned a letter to the federal Employment Minister asking Ottawa to create a new category of EI benefits for families who are searching for missing loved ones.
Council backed the letter, after the father of Ashley Simpson, who disappeared last spring from BC, told Niagara’s regional council the emotional and financial toll of searching for his daughter has devastated his family.
He left his job to search for his daughter and hoped to collect EI, but was told searching for his daughter wasn't a good enough reason to quit his job.
Ottawa provides EI benefits to those with missing children if the disappearance is crime related.
He won on appeal but was unable to leave the province to search for her because he was told he needed to be available to look for work.