Its official – Our Inaugural Family Justice Advocacy Group Meeting will take place May 26, 2011
Barrie’s Family Justice Advocacy Group –
Date: Thursday, May 26th, 2011
Place: 50 Anne Street North -Hi-way Pentecostal Church in Barrie, Ontario
Time: 7-9pm
Attila Vinczer – Master of Ceremony
Vernon Beck--Founder of Canada Court Watch –Speaker
Rob Goodnough- Guest Speaker-On a personal Note
Paulette MacDonald-Founder of Barrie’s Family Justice Advocacy Group
AGENDA:
7:00-7:20 - meet and greet
7:20-7:30 - introduction
7:30-8:15 - speakers
8:15-8:45 -question and answer period
8:50-9:00 -announcements and clean-up
Remarks by Family Justice Advocate, Paulette MacDonald
In 1998, that’s thirteen years ago; Ottawa’s Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access put forth, several dozen recommendations for change in our Divorce Act that would indeed be in the Best Interest of the Child in a special report, titled "For the Sake of the Children”
Sadly, our Canadian Government continues to ignore the wishes of its people and not one of those recommendations has been made into law.
Then last year, we had at least four developments in the family law field that, are hopeful signs that change is coming.
· We have British Columbia’s first review of family law since the Family Relations Act came into force more than thirty years ago
· We have the Green Party’s unequivocal adoption of a policy of equal parenting at their August, convention
· We have the release of the Law Commission of Ontario in-depth report on the family law system and the report deplores a system that can bankrupt litigants and routinely ignores the wishes and interests of children
· Then we have; Ontario Chief Justice Warren Winkler’s proposal for free court based mandatory mediation for family law litigants
On a Personal Note, regarding advocacy work in Canada’s ill-equipped Child Protection Agencies, Mental Health Professionals and our profoundly broken Family Justice System, which is the purpose of this meeting in the first place
For the last several months of 2010, as well as the first few of 2011 I was put on a political merry-go-round, with MPs and government officials passing me from one office to the next. The ride finally ended at the office of the Attorney General, the Honourable Christopher Bentley.
I requested a meeting with Mr. Bentley to discuss Ontario's family law system: A system that Ontario Chief Justice Warren Winkler has said is "in crisis." It is so over-burdened with needless litigation that while lives are being destroyed by legal fees the government turns a blind eye.
I wanted to discuss the introduction of mandatory mediation and equal parenting, two measures that would greatly reduce power imbalances, caseload and costs in the family law system.
I answered each and every one of their concerns with research and then I was told that making a step in the family justice system mandatory requires a thorough analysis of all the interests that will be affected.
I then provided them with a copy of a study done on Mandatory Mediation, titled;
Mandatory Mediation – Must for Today’s World (Its name, speaks for its self)
I then received correspondence on behalf of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Stating: (BTW – I will be reading the highlighted parts only)
Dear Ms. MacDonald:
On behalf of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence, which was forwarded by the Office of the Prime Minister, concerning family law and equal parenting. I regret the delay in responding.
Please be assured that your correspondence has been brought to the attention of the appropriate officials of the Department of Justice Canada.
I would like to point out that the Ontario Family Law Act is a provincial statute, and that child protection agencies and mental health services are provincial responsibilities. As you are aware, the Honourable Chris Bentley, Attorney General of Ontario, is the appropriate authority in your province. Please note that the federal ministers have no authority over their provincial counterparts.
With respect to Bill C-422, An Act to amend the Divorce Act (equal parenting) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, this bill died on the Order Paper when Parliament was dissolved on March 26, 2011.
In the end, my request for a meeting was denied.
Shameful.
Then Parliament was dissolved on March 26, 2011
Then we had another remarkable speech by Justice Winkler on our profoundly broken family law field on April 8, 2011 – (and again, I will just read the highlighted parts only)
I have stated before that I believe access to justice to be the greatest challenge facing the legal profession today. I continue to believe that one of the areas of law where this is most profoundly challenged is family law.
After I was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario, I travelled throughout the province, and met with law associations to get feedback on issues that were facing the legal system.
The overwhelming theme of the conversations with lawyers who practice litigation is that family law is in a state of crisis. (And here Winkler is speaking of lawyers, so you can imagine how overwhelmed the middle classed parents feel)
This state of frustration is shared by the public. Almost everyone knows someone who has been involved in a family law dispute. It is almost inevitable that these stories will be sad from a personal standpoint. But this sadness is invariably exacerbated by experiences of frustration and dissatisfaction with the legal system.
The public is frustrated with the length of time it takes to finalize matrimonial cases and with the complexity of the procedures. They are frustrated with the costs that stem from the delays and the dissipation of family assets from protracted litigation. Finally, they are frustrated with the stress that the court procedure places on the participants in an already highly emotional dispute. The effect that our legal system has on family disputes has been described as throwing gasoline on a fire.
Now we have a New Majority Conservative Government and according to the Conservative Party’s own Policy Declaration states in section K, under the title SOCIAL POLICY, #69,
“The Conservative Party believes that in the event of a marital breakdown, the Divorce Act should grant joint custody, unless it is clearly demonstrated not to be in the best interests of the child. Both parents and all grandparents should be allowed to maintain a meaningful relationship with their children and Grandchildren, unless it is demonstrated not to be in the best interest of the child.”
As Family Justice Advocates; we don't want to see one more life destroyed by a system that was designed to help families when they are at their most vulnerable. We second the opinion of Chief Justice Warren Winkler that “family law is in a state of crisis. We see a system in disarray – one that is beyond tinkering and that needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up using new concepts and fresh ideas. In short, we see a need for fundamental change.”
So, in this new session of Parliament, with its new Majority Government and so many dedicated Family Justice Advocates, if we band together and truly learn how to advocate for real change…
· Government Bill on Equal\Shared Parenting; (Polls state that 80% of Canadians support Equal Parenting)
· Mandatory Mediation\Parenting Programs for Family Law Litigants;
· Ontario Ombudsman, overseeing our Child Protection Agencies;
· Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers , regulate registration of Children’s Aid Society (CAS) workers;
And last but definitely not least, given our high percentage of divorce in Canada and the fact that parental alienation typically occurs in high conflict divorce it’s imperative that our government, mental health professionals, professionals involved in any way with family law, professionals involved in any way with our children, must be educated on parental alienation and its devastating consequences by recognizing and punishing this parenting behaviour.
In closing, I would like to quote the Author of Winner Take All - Molly Murphy, from London, Ontario;
Once a society knows that an injustice is being done, we have a moral, ethical and spiritual obligation to address the problem.
Now, my question to you is; what are you doing to address this problem?
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Related links;
For the Sake of the Children http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=1031529&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=36&Ses=1
MODERNIZING BRITISH COLUMBIA’S FAMILY LAW
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010AG0014-000836.htm
Greens- Equal Parenting
http://greenparty.ca/node/14954
Voices from a Broken Family Justice System
http://www.slaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/LCO-Family-Law-Reform-Consultation-Results-Highlights-Version-September-2010.pdf
Remarks by Winkler – 2010
http://ccla-abcc.ca/uploadedFiles/Remarks%20by%20Chief%20Justice%20Warren%20K.%20Winkler%20-%202010%20CCLA%20Civil%20Litigation%20Conference.pdf
Remarks by Winkler – 2011
http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/coa/en/ps/speeches/2011-Annual-Institute-Family-Law-CCLA.htm#
Mandatory Mediation – Must for Today’s World http://www.cba.org/dev/oba/en/gen/dec04/mandatory.aspx
The unlawful practice of social work in Ontario by unregulated CAS workers who provide services to the public under false pretence
http://www.canadacourtwatch.com/files/all/The_Unlawful_Practice_of_Social_Work.pdf