Get the Details Here: CEPC’s Response to CBA Statement Opposing Bill C-560, Claim #2

CEPC Issued a summary rebuttal to the CBA Statement of Opposition to the popular Equal Parenting Bill C-560. In the summary, there were links to the details.   This post covers CBA Claim #2.

CBA Claim #2

“Parenting is not about adults claiming rights,” says Patricia Hebert of Edmonton, Vice-Chair of the CBA’s National Family Law Section.  “It is about the desire and ability to put children’s interests first.”

CEPC Response:

According to Dr. Edward Kruk, author of “The Equal Parent Presumption:  Social Justice in the Legal Determination of Parenting After Divorce,”  “We live in an age of shared parenting responsibility, yet for a significant number of children of divorce in Canada, shared parenting is denied…in contrast with other jurisdictions, a rights-based discourse continues to dominate the field of parenting after divorce in Canada. The best-interests-of-the-child standard has historically reflected a struggle between mothers’ and fathers’ rights, with children’s needs considered to be commensurate with either position (Mason 1994).

“Despite lip service given to the need for “joint custody” orders, discretionary best-interests-of-the-child-based judicial decisions continue to reflect a “sole custody” presumption in the form of “primary residence” orders in contested cases. In recent years, however, with increasing scrutiny of the discretionary best-interests-of-the-child standard, a new ethic has emerged which recognizes the fact that children’s needs and interests are separate from, although related to, the rights of their parents.”

Consistent with Dr. Kruk’s observations, and with the opinion of 80% of Canadians, the CEPC believes that the best parent is both parents for most children.   Bill C-560 is a parental responsibility bill, which moves our Family Courts from a winner-take-all system where parents fight over the “right” to Sole Custody to an Equal Shared Parenting responsibility rebuttable presumption, which balances the power between the parents.  Our reading of Bill C-560 is that it encourages the active and equal involvement of both parents in the raising of the child(ren).  As shown above, Bill C-560 has nothing to say about rights, except where the rights of the child(ren) are concerned.

The CBA claim that the Equal Parenting Bill C-560 elevates parents’ rights over the children’s best interests is false.