Federal government open to parts of Divorce Act bill, but its fate remains unclear

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said Wednesday the federal government is open to supporting elements of a private member’s bill to amend the Divorce Act, though the bill’s final form remains unclear. Bill C-223, introduced by Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner, is before a House of Commons committee. Women’s groups warned last week that the Liberal government appeared to have changed its position and the bill could be killed.

The bill would curb parental alienation claims. It would also require lawyers to screen for signs of family violence during divorce cases, give judges new tools to identify coercive control and its effects on children, and allow children, in some circumstances, to express their preferences to a judge in a custody dispute.

Fraser said the government wants the committee to make some amendments. He said the government wants to protect the court’s discretion to consider all evidence relevant to a child’s best interests. He added that he was optimistic the government could work with the bill’s sponsor to provide important protections while addressing concerns about judicial discretion.

Hepfner told reporters that some parts of the bill are more controversial than others, but declined to say which might be removed. She said that if they could pass a version that everyone, including the Canadian Bar Association, agreed would make the family court system safer for children, they should proceed. She said some things should be broadly agreed upon and that she hoped the minister would be prepared to support them.

Hepfner said it should not be controversial to change the law so that, when a finding of family violence has been made, an abusive parent cannot blame the other parent for their strained relationship with the child. She has said she proposed the legislation after hearing disturbing stories from Suzanne Zaccour, director of legal affairs at the National Association of Women and the Law.

A September report from the National Association of Women and the Law examined the deaths of eight children. It said parental alienation is frequently invoked in Canadian courts: parties in custody cases use the concept to explain why a child resists seeing a parent and to cast doubt on allegations of domestic violence.

Zaccour said in an interview Wednesday that it is important to know what amendments Fraser has in mind. Hepfner said in an interview that she cannot say with certainty what the bill will look like when the process ends. She is working to secure substantial changes now, she said, and wants assurances that the government will continue examining the issue and address problems raised by her bill.