Driving across the country in a large purple “Barney Mobile,” a group of parents dressed up as the Hulk, Spiderman and other superheroes are hoping to spur change in Canada’s family court system.
Through its Cross Country Crusade, which will make 30 stops between Vancouver and St. John’s, Fathers 4 Justice Canada aims to promote the concept of equal parenting after divorce.
Legislated equal parenting, says F4J, would do away with the current “adversarial system” in place in family court in which one parent usually gets sole custody while the other — most often the father — has to make do with seeing the child only during designated times.
In equal shared parenting, both parents remain as custodial parents and children are spared being embroiled in the conflict over who’s going to win custody.
F4J and other father’s rights groups say that with the mother being granted sole custody in about 85 per cent of disputed custody cases, the family court system is unfairly stacked against them.
Gender bias, they allege, is rampant in the system and they want change.
“I think when these laws were drafted, the will of Parliament was meant to be maximum contact for both parents,” says Kris Titus, national coordinator for F4J.
“Unfortunately the language was too loose and too open for interpretation at the court level. We want to see that sewn up so it is very clear to the courts and the parents what is expected when the family breaks down.”
After her own divorce 10 years ago, Titus’ ex-husband was allowed to have the children only every other weekend. When both parents saw the negative effect this arrangement was having on their two sons, they decided to go back to court to request equal custody.
It took two tries, but the court eventually saw it their way and the difference in the kids’ demeanor was almost immediate, says Titus.
