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AMENDMENT TO THE DIVORCE ACT IGNORES CHILDREN'S NEEDS

In December 1998, a Joint Committee of the House of Commons and the Senate had recommended that shared parenting following a divorce be implemented so that a child will have both parents closely involved with their lives while growing up. At present, the large majority of custody awards are granted to the mother with the father usually having visiting rights only. These visiting rights, however, are mostly dependent on the mother's inclinations to permit them, with no legal enforcement of them.

Former Justice Minister, Anne McLellan and her feminist advisors in the Justice Department delayed implementing this recommendation stating the matter needed yet more study. This was due to feminist complaints that the Joint Committee was "biased" and had failed to take into consideration the fact that men were abusive and that the lives of women and children were at risk if the concept of shared parenting was implemented.

In December 2002, the current Minister of Justice, Martin Cauchon finally tabled Bill C-22 to amend the Divorce Act. The amendments, however, completely ignored the Committee's recommendations on shared parenting and provided only, a generalized statement that each parent has "responsibilities" in the upbringing of a child.

In effect, Mr. Cauchon has followed the recommendations of the Canadian Bar Association in Bill C-22 and removed the words "custody" and "access" from the Divorce Act, and inserted "parental responsibility" and "parenting order" in its place. The muddy rephrasing does nothing to stop the plague of fathers being denied custody and only serves to encourage fatherlessness - so deeply harmful to children and our society.

REAL Women shares the belief alongside many father's groups that children must have the involvement of both parents in raising them in order that they may become stable and productive members of society.

Bill C-22 merely follows the feminist manifesto to retain the status quo in cases of divorce, granting custody in most instances to mothers and does nothing to restore respect for parental rights and the real needs of children seeking love, support and the involvement of both parents in their upbringing.

Again, the Liberal government in Ottawa has responded to the demands of a special interest group of feminists - ignoring the best interests of our children.

Please write to:
The Honourable Martin Cauchon
Minister of Justice
Justice Building
284 Wellington St.
Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8
Tel: (613) 992-4621
Fax: (613) 990-7255

Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

objecting to the failure of Bill C-22 to address custody problems which remove fathers from their parenting role.

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