Judicial education on intimate partner violence

Bill C-233 is moving to Second Reading in the House of Commons on Friday, April 29, 2022. A central component of this Bill involves judicial education on the issue of intimate partner violence. Known as Keira’s Law, this aspect of the Bill honours Keira Kagan, a four-year old girl killed by her father in an apparent murder-suicide in February 2020.

‘No’ to shared parenting presumptions

In his recent article in The Lawyer’s Daily, Gene C. Colman takes the position that the majority of Canadians support creating a rebuttable presumption in favour of shared parenting in family law (“Equal shared parenting has huge support”). 

I beg to differ with both his assertion that this is something most Canadians want and the wisdom of such an approach.

Intimate partner domestic violence in Canada: Remarks to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women

Presented by Pamela Cross, Luke’s Place Legal Director, on March 25, 2022 at 1:00pm

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today on this important issue. I am the Legal Director at Luke’s Place in Durham Region. We provide direct services to women who have left abusive relationships and are engaged with the family law process and work at the provincial and national levels,

Making new law: Damages for abuse

I don’t often read a family court decision that makes me jump for joy, but a recent decision by Justice Renu Mandhane of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice did just that.

In this case, Justice Mandhane recognizes a new tort of family violence and awards the wife $150,000 in damages for the pattern of physical and coercive controlling abuse she was subjected to by her husband over their 16-year marriage.

Building consistency

Canada’s Constitution Act, in sections 91 and 92, clearly sets out federal and provincial jurisdiction over different aspects of family law. The feds handle divorce, including any corollary issues such as parenting arrangements, child and spousal support and division of property raised in the context of an application for divorce.

Language matters when talking about violence

In March 2021, Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, presented to the Dufferin Calendon Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) on the impact of language when speaking about violence against women.

View Pamela’s presentation:

Recent case: Parenting arrangements under the updated Children’s Law Reform Act

Ammar v Smith 2021 ONSC 3204: This case culminated in a five-day trial that focused on parenting arrangements, ownership of the family residence and child and spousal support. This summary focuses on the parenting arrangements issue only. For those interested in the other issues, I encourage you to read the full 88-page decision.

Family violence and parenting coordination

Making appropriate parenting arrangements when there has been a history of family violence can be challenging but, for many families, that is just the first step: once an agreement or court order is in place, the parents must then find ways to make it work, sometimes for many years.

This is not easy,

Tips on completing a parenting plan

A parenting plan is a written document setting out the details of how your children will be raised and how parenting and decision-making will work after you and your partner separate.   

A clear and detailed parenting plan will minimize your former partner’s ability to find loopholes to exploit in order to exercise power and control over both you and the children.