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…
Category: Current events
After decades of waiting, women’s rights groups celebrate changes to the Divorce Act
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…
New unified family courts
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…
Exceptional contributions: Luke’s Place awarded by the Ontario Bar Association
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…
Law Society awards Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross
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…
Celebrate International Women’s Day by Celebrating Yourself
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…
Changing Canada’s Divorce Act: Luke’s Place remarks on Bill C-78
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,…
Femicide is the crisis we’re all ignoring
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…
Count Us In: Women will vote on June 7
From an article by Pamela Cross, Lieran Docherty, Amanda Dale, Farrah Khan, Marlene Ham, Lenore Lukasik-Foss and Margaret MacPherson in the Toronto Star Violence against women services are waiting with bated breath to see who will win this election. Despite…
Active consent: Consent in the age of #MeToo
Recently The Walrus looked at sexual assault and consent. Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, was interviewed. Experts say the 1992 changes put Canada among the leaders in sexual-assault law internationally. “It requires active consent, as opposed to an absence…