Feds open to backing parts of Divorce Act bill

OTTAWA: Justice Minister Sean Fraser said Wednesday the federal government is open to supporting parts of a private member’s bill to amend the Divorce Act, though what the bill will look like in the end is unclear.

Bill C-223, introduced by Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner, is before a House of Commons committee. Women’s groups warned last week that the Liberal government appeared to have changed its mind and that the bill could be killed, the Canadian Press reported.

The bill would amend the Divorce Act to curb parental alienation claims, among other changes. It would require lawyers to screen for signs of family violence during divorce cases, give judges new tools to identify coercive control and its effect on children, and ensure that in some circumstances children can tell a judge their preferences in a custody dispute.

Fraser said the government wants the committee to make amendments. “We want to ensure that we protect the discretion of the court to consider all evidence that’s in the best interest of the child, but I’m optimistic that we can work with the sponsor to ensure we deliver important protections,” he said.

Hepfner told reporters some parts of the bill are more controversial than others but would not say which could be removed. She said she would support passing a version that everyone agrees on, including the Canadian Bar Association, if it makes the family court system safer for children.

She said she cannot say with certainty what the bill will look like at the end of the process. She said she wants substantial changes moving now, and assurances that the government will keep examining the problems raised with her bill.

Hepfner has said she proposed the legislation after hearing from Suzanne Zaccour, director of legal affairs at the National Association of Women and the Law. Zaccour said Wednesday it is important to know what amendments Fraser has in mind. She said no one should find it controversial that, where a court finds family violence, the abusive parent should not be able to blame the other parent for a strained relationship with the child.

A report released in September by the association, which examined the deaths of eight children, said the concept of parental alienation is frequently invoked in Canadian courts. The report said parties in custody cases use it to explain why a child resists seeing a parent and to cast doubt on allegations of domestic violence.

Fraser is also the minister behind other justice bills before Parliament. See our coverage of the federal MAID bill and of Ottawa’s argument that its under-16 social media ban fits the Charter.

Source: The Canadian Press via Global News.

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