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 #1.
CBA Claim #1
“The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) opposes Bill C-560, a private member’s bill, as it would shift the way custody is determined under the Divorce Act to parents’ rights – away from what is in the best interests of children.”
CEPC Response:
Bill C-560 may be found on the website of the House of Parliament here:
Our search of the English version of Bill C-560 reveals only one use of the word “rights”:
“DEFINITIONS”
“parenting” means the act of assuming the role of a parent to a child, including custody and all of the rights and responsibilities commonly and historically associated with the role of a parent”
To be extra thorough, we also searched for existence of the word “right”. Again, we found only one use of the word “right” in all of Bill C-560:
“PURPOSE [Of the Act]”
“(b) every child has the right
(i) to know and be cared for by both parents,
(ii) to know his or her relatives and enjoy his or her culture, and
(iii) to spend time and communicate with both parents on a regular basis, and to maintain continuity of relationships with relatives.”
After a complete review of the Bill before Parliament, we conclude that the statement from the CBA misrepresents the letter and intent of Bill C-560. The only rights which are defined in the bill are new rights of the child to be raised equally by both parents.
Français du Canada 
English (Canada)