In this second post from the Luke’s Place submission on Ontario’s family court review by Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General, we consider the review’s goal of reducing the cost of the court process to families and taxpayers.
Consider the victim in reducing costs
Any steps to reduce the cost of the family court process must prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable of those involved with the process.
A review of Ontario’s family and civil legislation, regulations, and processes by the Ministry of the Attorney General is underway. Submissions will be accepted until July 31, 2019.
The review is looking at three key issues:
direct family law matters out of a combative court process, where possible;
reduce the cost of the process to families and taxpayers;
In the final dash to get legislation passed before Parliament recessed for the summer, only to head straight into an election campaign in the fall, some important bills managed to make it to Royal Assent.
Any bills that did not pass Third Reading in the Senate and obtain Royal Assent by last Friday are now dead.
Ottawa, June 19, 2019—After decades of advocacy by women’s rights groups pressing for much needed changes to the Divorce Act, including by a coalition led by the National Association for Women and the Law (NAWL) and Luke’s Place, and the efforts of many feminists who engaged on Bill C-78;
The Ministry of the Attorney General has announced eight new Unified Family Court (UFC) locations that went into operation on May 13, 2019.
These locations are:
Belleville
Cayuga
Kitchener
Pembroke
Picton
Simcoe
St. Thomas
Twelve judges have been onboarded to sit in these eight locations.
In a Unified Family Court, the court hears all family law matters,
Oshawa, Ontario – The Ontario Bar Association recognizes Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children with the OBA Foundation Award. The award is presented to individuals and organizations that make:
exceptional contributions to the improvement of the justice system through public legal education, innovative research,
PRESS RELEASE Oshawa, Ontario – Luke’s Place is pleased to announce that the Law Society of Ontario has recognized our Legal Director, Pamela Cross, as the 2019 Laura Legge Award recipient.
“It is an honour to have been selected for this award,” says Cross.
The work I do is inspired by the countless women in this country who are subjected to misogynist violence and abuse and have the courage to say ‘no more’.
This International Women’s Day celebrate all the hard-working women out there, including yourself!
Check out our self-care checklist and our customizable self-care plan on FamilyCourtAndBeyond.ca. Both can be downloaded.
Share these tools with the women in your life and celebrate together!
The Bill C-78 hearing
Luke’s Place and NAWL have submitted a Joint Brief on Bill C-78 and will testify as witnesses before the Standing Committee in Ottawa on Wednesday November 22 at 5:30.
Our brief was endorsed by over 40 organizations, some of which will be heard by the Committee today.
Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, talks with Sarah Boesveld, senior writer of Chatelaine, in a podcast about femicide.
There’s been an increasing focus on violence against women in recent years, but that hasn’t resulted in a drop in the number of murders. What factors are at play and why hasn’t all our talk about awareness done anything?
