Five things to know about the government’s proposed changes to family law
OTTAWA — Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould tabled legislation Tuesday which, if passed, would introduce a number of changes to federal family laws — billed by the Liberal government as the first substantive update for the laws in 20 years. Five things to know:
Why now? Updating Canada’s Divorce Act and other long-standing family laws may not have been a centrepiece of the Liberal election campaign in 2015, but Wilson-Raybould says it’s been a personal commitment of hers for a while to heed the calls for Divorce Act reform, which have been echoing for decades. She says individuals and advocates alike have been calling on the government to bring the law up to “modern times.”
Words matter. The bill proposes more “child-focused” language, which means replacing terms like “custody” and “access” — terms that have long been seen as fostering conflict between parents — with “parenting orders” and “parenting time.” “Shared custody” is a phrase common in divorce-speak, Wilson-Raybould noted, but it’s not always the goal if it’s not in the best interest of the child.
Clear and present danger. The legislation being proposed by the Liberal government would also require courts to take family violence and other factors into account when deciding on parenting arrangements. Judges have long taken the risk of violence into account when making such decisions, of course; the legislation would codify a detailed list of factors for courts to take into consideration.