Jan. 14, 2019-Myths v. Facts – Introduction and Summary

GCC Introduction: My colleague in the ESP Movement, Brian Ludmer, prepared (on behalf of the Canadian Association for Equality – CAFÉ) a written Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights when the Committee was considering Bill C-78. For the next while, I take pleasure in presenting parts of that Brief here in my ESP Thought of the Day. Brian ably and fairly succinctly synthesizes the movement’s response to the myths and stereotypes that are regularly espoused within those sectors that support the dysfunctional status quo of the Canadian family law system.

Introducing a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting would reform the current dysfunctional and arbitrary litigation-based system which, despite it stated goals, in fact fails to advance the long-term best interests of the affected children and in fact exposes them to conflict, uncertainty and parental pressure.

A rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting does not impose that solution for all families. It merely recognizes public opinion (i.e. the actual consumers and clients of the current dysfunctional system) and the applicable science to indicate that there must be persuasive evidence that the needs of the children must be “substantially enhanced” for a departure from an equal parenting solution. In other words, a rebuttable presumption of ESP is just the starting point for the analysis.

Support for this initiative is overwhelming across all Canadian demographics, according to decades of public opinion polling – the public’s actual experience is that the current litigation-based system is failing families. Overwhelming science supports a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting as a means to protect children from the conflict inherent in the current system. Opposition submissions on this issue are vague and based entirely on rhetoric and lacking in substance and are generally not evidence-based assertions. In the face of overwhelming public opinion and science, the current system is founded on a set of material incorrect assumptions and myths, which are sequentially addressed and refuted below.

Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Bill C-78 by the Canadian Association for Equality and Brian Ludmer, B.Comm, LLB. – Myths and Facts Concerning a Rebuttable Presumption of Equal Shared Parenting, 27 November 2018