Item from the Smart
Marriages Archive, reproduced in the Divorce Statistics
Collection
December 10, 1998
Thursday, December 10, 1998
Committee urges child 'sharing' in Canadian reform
By CP
A Commons-Senate committee wants the words "custody" and
"access" replaced
with "shared parenting" in the Divorce Act as it recommended changes
aimed at
ending custody battles.
The committee -- whose work was often marked by rancour among committee
members and groups that appeared before it -- has spent the last year studying
ways to get mothers and fathers involved in their children's upbringing
after
marriages end.
The committee also said yesterday that both parents should have access to
information on their children's development and activities, such as school
and
medical records.
And the committee recommends that relationships with grandparents, siblings
and other extended family members be recognized as significant.
But the committee wouldn't go as far in its report as to recommend that
joint
custody be a forced solution in every divorce case. Instead, the report,
called
For the Sake of the Children, suggests the current system, where courts
are the
final arbiters on who gets the kids and when, should stay.
| Smart
Marriages Archive | New Divorce
Statistics and Studies Blog | Older Divorce
Statistics Collection Archive |