Posts by Luke's Place
TVO article: ‘Vagueness is a gift to an abuser’: What the Tories got right — and wrong — on Bill 207
Journalist Jane Gerster interviewed Luke’s Place and other women’s advocates/services about Bill 207 and its impact on women, as well as the importance of programs like the Family Court Support Worker Program in supporting women through the complex family law system. Advocates such as Pamela Cross, legal director at Luke’s Place, an Oshawa-based family-law support…
Read moreCTV’s W5 article: ‘Why does he keep abusing?’ Changing the question about intimate partner violence
As part of CTV’s W5 episode Unrestrained, host Avery Haines interviewed Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross. Unrestrained aired at 7:00pm EST on November 14, 2020. Pamela spoke about the complex family law system and described how restraining orders don’t do enough to protect women in abusive relationships. Lawyer and advocate Pamela Cross says,“a woman…
Read moreNAWL Brief Submitted to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Bill C-5
36 feminist and equality-seeking groups from across Canada, including Luke’s Place, endorsed the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) brief submitted to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Bill C-5 – An Act to Amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code. “Two foundational constitutional values…
Read moreRecent Court Decision: “In the long run, self-help will turn out to be a big mistake”
McNeil v McGuinness 2020 ONSC 1918 In this case, which was identified by the court as having “a long history of conflict and litigation since the parties separated in 2012,” Justice Pazaratz declined to find the father’s motion to be urgent as set out in the March 15, 2020 Notice to the Profession. In his…
Read moreTwo recent COVID-19 family law decisions
Court says no to “self-help” remedy In Burton v Woods 2020 ONCJ 158, Justice Pugsley was quick and clear in his response to a father who decided not to return the 10-year-old child to the mother at the end of his access time. The existing order, issued after a trial, was for the mother to…
Read moreCOVID-19 crisis complicates intimate partner violence issues, lawyers say
Ian Burns interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on TheLawyersDaily.ca. “Let’s say hypothetically I was in an abusive relationship, but I had a job, or my partner worked outside the home and our kids were at school. There would at least be some time during…
Read moreCanada’s domestic violence problem was already critical. COVID-19 is making it worse
Journalist Sarah Boesveld interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on Chatelaine.com. In late March, a few weeks after COVID-19 shuttered all schools and non-essential businesses, Pamela Cross and her team heard from a woman in dire need of help. Cross is the legal director of…
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