Court notice finder: Up-to-date information about family court
A new website, Court Notice Finder, put together by a number of Ontario family law legal professionals, organizes the: “voluminous – and often changing – information found in the various Court Notices issued on behalf of Family Law courthouses across Ontario since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.” This is a very useful tool for…
Read moreRecent case: Decision-making about children’s religious upbringing
A.J.H. v J.K.H. 2020 BCPC 74: This case looked at the issue of decision making about the religious and spiritual upbringing of the parties’ three very young children (ages 2, 4 and 5 years). The father holds extreme fundamentalist Christian views, which he wishes to pass on to his children, and claimed that preventing him…
Read moreWhat will it take to end gender-based violence in Canada?
Answer: A National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Gender Based Violence would certainly help. Women’s Shelters Canada was asked and funded by the department of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) to develop a strategic engagement with anti-violence leaders across Canada to inform the development of a National Action Plan (NAP) on Violence Against…
Read moreWhere can women’s advocates get support during the pandemic? The Pandemic Community of Practice
Virtual meetings for support, training and information sharing and an online resource hub to get VAW advocates through the pandemic Peer support and resources The past year has presented those of us providing frontline services to women fleeing abuse with unprecedented challenges. Meeting the needs of women and their children remotely, managing pandemic protocols at…
Read moreSupporting women to access family law supports during COVID-19
Luke’s Place offers a variety of supports to women and their advocates in Ontario during the pandemic For women If you are in Durham Region (Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge and Whitby) Contact us at 905-728-0978 x 221 Monday to Friday 9 am to noon and 1 to 4:30 pm for: Individual consultations…
Read moreCase summary: Mother seeking access to child in CAS care
Children’s Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin v. C.H., 2018 ONCJ 453 In this matter, the mother did not have the care of her children and was seeking access to one of the children. The mother had several mental health issues, a drug dependency problem, and a succession of relationships that resulted in…
Read moreVideo conferencing safety and other tech considerations during family law processes
There are different tech safety issues for women to consider depending on whether they are going to court, using mediation or attempting to resolve their issues through negotiation, either by themselves or with the assistance of a lawyer. Family courts are increasingly moving to remote hearings and online document filing. This means that a woman…
Read moreCTV: Calls for a unified family court system and further changes to Canada’s Divorce Act
CTV News recently spotlighted the changes in Canada’s Divorce Act, interviewing the Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross. Among other revisions, the new Act includes a definition of family violence as it relates to the best interests of the child. From the article: “We’re very unhappy with the way the language around decision-making responsibility is…
Read moreBridging the gap between the needs of survivors of family violence and the realities of family court
Luke’s Place joined the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children for a webinar on supporting women through family court. Our Legal Director, Pamela Cross, discussed the challenges survivors face when seeking safety and support in the family court. She was joined by Linda Baker of CREVAW who looked at the…
Read moreDividing family property: Cultural considerations – Part 2
Canadian law and the Jewish Ketebuah and gifts of money and gold made in contemplation of and at the time of marriage in the Hindi and Muslim traditions and the tradition of engagement rings
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