Posts Tagged ‘family law’
Chatelaine article: Why divorce cases involving allegations of abuse still confound family courts
Journalist Flannery Dean recently interviewed Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, and other experts for the article Why Divorce Cases Involving Allegations of Abuse Still Confound Family Courts available online and in the January 2021 issue of Chatelaine magazine. The article centres on the tragic outcomes of two mothers who fled domestic violence and highlights common…
Read moreToronto Star article: ‘We haven’t come very far’ – YWCA Toronto and women’s shelters call on government to address root causes of Polytechnique massacre anniversary
Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, was interviewed for a Toronto Star article on the anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre. The article reflects on the massacre and highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and their safety. “There were a whole lot of factors that combined when the pandemic first hit that put…
Read moreOntario’s family law takes a step forward in protecting the vulnerable: Toronto Star op-ed
Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, published an opinion piece in The Toronto Star about the passing of Bill 207: An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Courts of Justice Act, the Family Law Act and other Acts respecting various family law matters. Last week’s passage of Bill 207, which significantly changes…
Read moreTVO 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 moreWill Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The gaps – Part 3/3
The revised Divorce Act, coming into effect on July 1, 2020, offers both pros and cons for survivors of family violence. The pros outweigh the cons, and create the potential for parents who have left an abusive relationship and who use the federal statute to establish parenting arrangements to be better served by the law…
Read moreWill Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The cons – Part 2/3
While the amended Divorce Act will, without question, materially improve the situation of those fleeing abuse (if they use the Divorce Act to resolve parenting issues), it is not perfect. This article explores two criteria in the best interests test, the decision-making provisions and the emphasis on out of court dispute resolution, all of which…
Read moreCOVID-19 case: Urgent or case conference?
In Edwards v Robinson 2020 ONSC 2956, the mother brought an urgent motion on May 1st for the return of the parties’ two youngest children (the oldest is 20 years old) to her by the father, who had had them since March 25th. The mother made allegations of domestic violence, which the father disputed, alleging in response…
Read moreWill Canada’s new Divorce Act keep women and children fleeing abuse safe? The pros – Part 1/3
As we continue to find our way through the strange new world of life in a pandemic, it is easy to lose sight of things that seemed important to us just a few months ago. The significantly revised Divorce Act, passed by the federal government in June 2019 and coming into effect on July 1,…
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…
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