519-646-2222407 ETR ISSUES CONTINUE FOR BANKRUPTCIES AND PROPOSALS
In the face of the Supreme Court ruling the 407 ETR is closely reviewing its options.
As at this writing the 407 ETR position remains unclear as their legal team is reviewing how individuals making proposals and bankruptcies will be treated.
It appears that there is some clarity for bankrupts who have been discharged from bankruptcy – their debts are written off and the 407 ETR recognizes that it can no longer enforce collections against the individual’s license plates.
However, the 407 ETR seems to be taking the position that it can continue to suspend the bankrupt’s access to license plates pending their discharge, even in the face of the stay of proceedings provided under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act.
The lawyers for the 407 ETR have not yet determined how they will deal with proposals. To a trustee it appears obvious that the obligations filed under a proposal are just as dischargeable as those filed under a bankruptcy. But the lawyers will undoubtedly be looking at semantics, as lawyers do, for a work around.
A massive problem for people filing proposals could be that their plates remain under suspension for the life of their proposal, up to five years, and they are thereby inhibited from driving and subsequently working.
Bankrupts have an advantage over proponents in that they can apply to court for an earlier discharge and the suspension of their access to employment by the 407 ETR’s suspension of licensure may be sufficient cause for the courts to rule in favour of a bankrupt’s early discharge.