Family Law Reform Update
by Beryl Tsang

In our Spring 2001 Newsletter on Child Custody and Access Issues for Abused Women, we reported that the Federal Government was planning to reform the Divorce Act. On December 10 th , 2002 Justice Minister , , Martin Cauchon, introduced Bill C-22 “An Act to Amend the Divorce Act.” Major changes have been proposed:
•  “Custody” and “Access” will be replaced by the term “Parental Responsibility”.
•  “Parenting Responsibility Orders” will replace “Custody and Access” Orders”.
•  “Parenting Time”, major decision-making, and day-to-day decision-making will be “allocated” to each parent.
•  The “Maximum Contact” principle has been eliminated.
•  Criteria to determine the “Best Interests of the Child” have been included. The criteria include a history of care-giving, impact of family violence, the ability of each parent to communicate and cooperate, and the consideration of court orders or criminal convictions.
•  Rights of non-parents (e.g. grandparents) to seek access to children.
•  Focus on alternative dispute resolution such as mediation, and parent education.

While there are many positives to Bill C-22 such as Criteria to Determine the Best Interests of the Child, the Bill does not go far enough to protect the rights of abused women and their children. The section that refers to family violence, for example, does not recognize it is men who perpetrate family violence and that it is women and their children who are the victims of this violence. The Bill also fails to recognize that the interests and safety of children exposed to violence in the home is intrinsically tied to interests and safety of their mothers.
Some key things that are not included in the Bill are:
•  Guidelines for providing timely access to Family Courts for woman abuse survivors and their children.
•  Guidelines for training judges, lawyers, mediators and custody and access assessors on woman abuse and children's exposure to violence
•  Guidelines for accommodating abused women and their children from diverse ethno-cultural communities without any misassumption or misinterpretation of their culture and language.
•  Guidelines around how to harmonize the new Divorce Act with other federal acts such as the Immigration Act.
It is important for womens' advocates to review the bill. We need to let the Minister know what parts of the Bill we support, what parts we think need to be strengthened and improved, and what parts we believe compromise the safety of abused women and their children. For more information please refer to:www:owjn.org

Beryl Tsang is the Trainer/Materials Developer for the EWA Immigrant and Refugee Women's Program and a Steering Committee Member of the Ontario Women's Network on Child Custody and Access.

JOIN OUR EFFORTS TO MAKE WOMAN ABUSE AND CHILDREN EXPOSED TO VIOLENCE A PRIORITY FOR JUSTICE MINISTER CAUCHON.

Sign our “Woman Abuse Is Real…Children Are At Risk” post card included in this newsletter.

Additional English and Multi-lingual versions of this postcard are available from: EWA

Please contact EWA for a complete hard copy:
publications@womanabuseprevention.com
Telephone: 416.968.3422 x21