Fathers 4 Justice is an evolutionary, dynamic movement with specific
objectives and targets that we desperately need to achieve for children
and their families. At F4J Canada we know what we want and we know how
we're going to get there.
F4J Canada's primary objective is to create a statutory presumption of
equal parenting that can't be eroded by subjective interests - a right.
We're going to force elected representative governments in Canada to do
the job they were elected to do - represent the views of all their
constituents, including ours, to enact laws that serve all Canadians and
to take their role in maintaining a just society seriously. Elected
representatives must reassert political control over the judiciary, force
decisions that reflect the views of the citizens of this country by enacting
legislation that removes judicial discretion from the process of family law
all but completely if need be, and even then only under the narrowest of clearly
defined terms.
Elected representatives are responsible to Canadians for family law reform - F4J
Canada will be making them accountable for failing to come to terms with an
urgent social issue.
Our secondary objective is to force fair and balanced change on an unwillingly
judiciary by exposing their role in the disaster that family law has become in
this country. Family law judges have distanced themselves from community views
and have no understanding of the reality of raising children in Canada today,
consistently granting orders that demonstrate their isolation from society and compound
a major societal concern.
Politicians and judges alike certainly seem to be blissfully unaware of the extent of the
suffering Canadians endure at their hands.
Fathers 4 Justice Canada is going to change that.
EXPOSING THE VESTED INTERESTS:
The facts that Canadians aren't being told are as significant as the ones we do know about.
We've all heard about increased teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, higher rates of juvenile delinquency
and reduced educational performance in our youth, but we're not told that fatherlessness is a major
indicator in all of those problems. Most of us don't know about changes to aspects of family law
being introduced by letters to the Supreme Court of Canada from the Minister of Justice rather than
by way of open public debate in the House of Commons. Very few Canadians know that civil servants
regularly mislead Parliament and the public about family law.
Divorce has become a multi billion dollar industry in Canada. What once was a minor social issue
has grown into a huge source of revenue for divorce professionals and governments. A host of highy
paid professionals line up to earn exorbitant fees on the backs of families whose lives are
already in turmoil. At a time when families that once lived in one home find themselves needing
2 of virtually everything their incomes, assets and savings pour into expensive litigation.
On top of the endless drain of legal costs associated with divorce and separation, Canadians soon
learn that while divorce is not good for their standard of living, it is good for the state; all
of a sudden there are 2 of everything to tax where there once was one and professional fees carry
hefty tax components.
As the merest beginning of the concerns we're going to be raising, we'll be
talking about the secret training of Canada's judiciary, training being conducted by
the National Judicial Institute. Yes, judges are actually being trained in
secret in Canada right now, as hard as it may seem to believe.
The N.J.I. says that it "educates" judges in Canada. It regularly conducts something
innocuously entitled "social context training" and "skills training". The course
content is not available for public review, the names, affiliations or qualifications
of the trainers are not made public and the whole process is immune to requests made
under access to information legislation. The N.J.I. has guarded its secrecy jealously
at every challenge, with the powers of the offices its members hold they've been able
to keep their willing participation in civil rights violations almost unheard of and
kept their material undisclosed.
F4J Canada aims to change that - we'll be pursuing an open, public inquiry into the
role of the N.J.I. in removing fathers from the family.
STRENGTHENING THE MAXIMUM CONTACT PROVISION:
Parliament asserts in the Divorce Act that a child's interest is best served by maximum
contact with both their parents. The interpretation of that statutory provision by
the judiciary has weakened the principle of maximum contact to such an extent in Canada
that fathers are automatically assumed to be a danger to their children right from the
very outset of any legal action in family court. The one-size-fits-all, sole custody to
mum family law cookie cutter is typically applied as a matter of course, resulting in
fathers being removed from the family wholesale. The burden of proof to remove a father
from his children's lives in family court is so low that it would be laughable if the
affects weren't so damaging to children, the family and society as a whole.
When mothers are removed from their children's lives the impact is no different.
In the most recent proposed amendments to the Divorce Act, Bill C-22, the maximum contact
provision was very quietly removed. C-22 also contained provisions to hire more judges
and enabled the rest of the divorce industry extensively. Rather than enacting legislation
that reflects the values of Canadians, prevents needless litigation and strengthens the
family unit - the basic unit of society - the Liberal government of the day chose to further
degrade the rights of parents and children while enabling highly paid professionals.
One of our objectives in the course of creating the right to parent our children is to
strengthen maximum contact provisions in legislation in such a way that they can no longer
be misinterpreted by the judiciary.
ESTABLISHING A LEGAL PRESUMPTION OF EQUAL PARENTING:
F4J asserts that children have a right to equal and full relationships with both their
parents post separation and divorce, and that parents have the right to an equal relationship
with their children. The evidence shows clearly that children are typically raised by both
their parents within the framework of traditional marriages, but they do not have the right to
continue to benefit from relationships with both their parents when separation or divorce occurs.
While s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees equality for all Canadians
regardless of gender the statistics on custody decisions made by family courts clearly demonstrate
that the core values represented by the equality provision of the Charter are not being applied in
family matters. Overwhelmingly, sole custody is still granted to mothers. Joint custody orders,
which Canadians are being misled in believing are common, often include a "primary residency"
clause. The effect of the primary residency clause is exactly the same as an order for sole custody,
the parent with primary residency - typically the mother - is allowed primacy in all decisions, up
to and including ignoring court orders for children's contact with the other parent, and there are
seldom repercussions.
Our objective is to create statutory provisions that force family courts to reach equal parenting
decisions in the absence of criminal convictions related to children in every disputed case.
Procedures for immediate enforcement of orders and penalties for repeat offenders will be required
elements of the change to the presumption of equality.
ESTABLISHING A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR THE FAMILY:
At F4J Canada we believe that we must embrace rights for children, parents and extended family
members. We must recognize the value not only to children, but to our communities and to society
in general by guaranteeing family rights after a marriage or common-law relationship ends.
Protecting family relationships may entail an amendment to the constitution in Canada, never an
easy task, but a worthy objective none the less. In Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
gaurantees property rights, language rights and mobility rights, yet the single
most important aspect of every parent's life remains without protection, the
relationship with one's own children.
Our objective will be to protect family relationships with a Charter amendment if needed.
DESIGNING EFFECTIVE CHANGE - THE F4J BLUEPRINT FOR FAMILY LAW:
F4J U.K. has published its blueprint for family law in the 21st century: a radical and visionary
document that calls for a community based response to dealing with divorce. F4J Canada is
currently in the process of revising the blueprint for reform to fit Canadian law, and it will
be released upon its completion.
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