The FVEI is the legacy that I would like to leave out of all of this. Nanc is giving the Supreme Court a chance to make new and more just law for everyone involved in separation and divorce, particularly abused spouses. That will be her legacy from all the pain and heartache that she has been through. I firmly believe that the FVEI, as an intervention at early ages, will gradually reduce the need to use those laws, after the fact, and will promote and produce a healthier society.
The gist of the plan is a national mandate to create teams to deliver a program to children at all schools across the country in an age targeted, assembly based format. As a teacher, I will state that simply mandating another addition to the curriculum is an unreasonable, minimally effective, and unworkable approach. I am currently trying to establish contact with some leaders in this field to develop the program more fully.
I envision the program involving dramatic presentations, age group targeted, to show children what family violence is, that it is not OK, and what they can do about it if it is occurring in their lives or homes. The team would comprise the presenters, a trained counselor, and a member of the police to deal with disclosures.
It is way beyond time that our society takes a firm stand against this issue. Much of the social and criminal problems that affect us all are a direct result of family violence. It is beyond time to strike at the root cause of societal violence, drug abuse and its attendant criminality, and the ongoing cycle of violence in families. Let's stop treating the symptoms and get to treating the disease.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Monday, 12 May 2008
LEAF HAS APPLIED TO INTERVENE WITH SCC!!!
On April 24th, the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) applied for intervenor status in Nanc's case at the Supreme Court of Canada. They have copies of our brief and are preparing their submissions as they await leave. This is huge, folks. They are bringing in the Charter and human rights issues. The fact that they have recognised what is seriously wrong with the judgements Nanc recieved, gives us renewed hope. Thank you LEAF, and welcome to our battle!
FROM THE LEAF WEBSITE:
About West Coast LEAF
Our concept of equality does not mean "equality as sameness", but rather equality as the removal and disappearance of discrimination and disadvantage which is consistent with Charter equality rights.
The West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) formed when the equality guarantees of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force. Our goal then, as it remains today, was to change historical patterns of systemic discrimination against women in Canada. We seek to achieve women's equality by conducting equality rights litigation, by advocating for law reform, and through public legal education.
Governed by an elected Board of Directors and supported by active members, committed volunteers, and a dedicated staff, West Coast LEAF is an affiliate of National LEAF. West Coast LEAF is an incorporated non-profit society in British Columbia and a federally registered charity. We are funded by the Law Foundation of BC, donations from members, individual supporters, unions and local businesses, and through our own fundraising efforts. We also seek project funding from various sources including foundations and government departments.
OUR VALUES
We value all women's right to equally access the power, advantage and enjoyment of the benefits of Canadian society, and their full participation in social, economic and political activities of the nation.
We reject laws and practices that reinforce and shape women's disadvantage, and value laws and practices that promote for women the equal enjoyment of valued social interests. We value approaches to substantive equality which encompass the right to have one's differences acknowledged and accommodated both by the law and by appropriate social and institutional policies and practices.
We value the understanding that women of diverse backgrounds experience discrimination which is different in degree and/or kind in various contexts due to characteristics such as colour, race, national or ethnic origin, language, sexual and gender identity, religion, family or marital status, age, different physical or mental attributes, and economic or social status. We value the right of women of diverse backgrounds to have their differences acknowledged and accommodated by the law and social institutions. We value a discrimination-free organization and we make continual efforts to identify, understand and dismantle barriers to full participation of all women in West Coast LEAF.
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Web Design by: KlikCreative
Copyright © West Coast LEAF
FROM THE LEAF WEBSITE:
About West Coast LEAF
Our concept of equality does not mean "equality as sameness", but rather equality as the removal and disappearance of discrimination and disadvantage which is consistent with Charter equality rights.
The West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) formed when the equality guarantees of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force. Our goal then, as it remains today, was to change historical patterns of systemic discrimination against women in Canada. We seek to achieve women's equality by conducting equality rights litigation, by advocating for law reform, and through public legal education.
Governed by an elected Board of Directors and supported by active members, committed volunteers, and a dedicated staff, West Coast LEAF is an affiliate of National LEAF. West Coast LEAF is an incorporated non-profit society in British Columbia and a federally registered charity. We are funded by the Law Foundation of BC, donations from members, individual supporters, unions and local businesses, and through our own fundraising efforts. We also seek project funding from various sources including foundations and government departments.
OUR VALUES
We value all women's right to equally access the power, advantage and enjoyment of the benefits of Canadian society, and their full participation in social, economic and political activities of the nation.
We reject laws and practices that reinforce and shape women's disadvantage, and value laws and practices that promote for women the equal enjoyment of valued social interests. We value approaches to substantive equality which encompass the right to have one's differences acknowledged and accommodated both by the law and by appropriate social and institutional policies and practices.
We value the understanding that women of diverse backgrounds experience discrimination which is different in degree and/or kind in various contexts due to characteristics such as colour, race, national or ethnic origin, language, sexual and gender identity, religion, family or marital status, age, different physical or mental attributes, and economic or social status. We value the right of women of diverse backgrounds to have their differences acknowledged and accommodated by the law and social institutions. We value a discrimination-free organization and we make continual efforts to identify, understand and dismantle barriers to full participation of all women in West Coast LEAF.
Back to Top
Web Design by: KlikCreative
Copyright © West Coast LEAF
LEAF IN ACTION!
Media Release
For immediate release
April 11, 2008
Women and Children at Risk for Their Lives in Family Law Disputes
Law Reform Must Address the Reality of Women’s experience of Family
Violence
(Vancouver) - West Coast Women’s Legal Education Action Fund (LEAF) is deeply concerned
about how our family law system is dealing with family violence.
“Family violence is not experienced equally by men and women,” says Family Law Project
Director Zara Suleman. “Family violence is almost always violence by men against women.”
“Section 15 of the Charter expressly says that women are entitled to the ‘equal protection of the
law’,” points out Alison Brewin, Executive Director of West Coast LEAF. “This lack of gendered
analysis to violence against women and children allows the violence to continue.”
West Coast LEAF is saddened to see yet another horrific example of this in the recent tragedy of
the three children murdered in Merritt. Darcie Clark, the mother of the children had moved to
Merritt to get away from her ex-husband after he had threatened her life.
This is not an isolated incident. It was in this same week in April 1996 in the Vernon Massacre
that Rajwar Gakhal and nine members of her family were shot and murdered by her estranged
husband. But the Vernon Massacre and the resulting Inquest did not see an end to such terrifying
incidents of violence and murder of women and children in B.C. In fact we have continued to
experience such tragedies. Some examples are:
• September 4th, 2007, in Victoria, B.C., Yong Sun Park, her son and her parents were all
stabbed to death by her husband, Peter Lee.,
• October 19th, 2006, in Port Coquitlam, B.C., Gurjeet Ghuman was shot twice point blank
in the head by her estranged husband as she dropped off her daughter. Gurjeet survived
but is now blind.
• In 2003, Sherry Heron and her mother, Anna Adams were murdered at Mission Memorial
Hospital by Sherry’s estranged husband. Sherry had a restraining order in place while she
was in the hospital.
• In 2003, in Nanaimo B.C. Denise Purdy was stabbed to death by her estranged husband.
• In 2002, in Quatsino, B.C. Sonya Handel’s 6 children were drugged, strangled and shot
and left to die in their burning home by their father Jay Handel. Crown identified that Mr.
Handel was unable to deal with his wife’s demands for a divorce.
“Women facing violence in their relationships who seek safety for themselves and their children
by leaving their abusive partners are then still required in family law to ensure the children’s
access with the abusive ex-partner,” says Angela MacDougall of Battered Women’s Support
Services. “In addition, the gap between criminal restraining orders and orders for joint or shared
parenting arrangements conflict increasing women and children’s vulnerability to violence.”
“We need concrete changes to the criminal justice and family law systems that coordinate
services to protect women and children in B.C.” demands Suleman, “Police, legal and court
systems need to understand that safety issues for women facing violence in their relationships and
the protection of their children are not separate issues but are fundamentally interconnected. We
cannot address one without the other.”
Research indicates that women and children are most at risk when women are in the process of
separating from their spouses. Furthermore facilitating custody and access places women and
children at more risk for harm where the father has been abusive or violent to his spouse. Every
week in Canada at least one woman is murdered by her ex-partner. [Statistics:
www.endingviolence.org/files/uploads/VAWIRFactSheet.pdf ]
Family law reform in B.C. has currently been engaging the issue of family violence in the recent
Review of the Family Relations Act. West Coast LEAF is encouraged that such initiatives are
being taken but worries that without an analysis that recognizes the inequality of women, the gaps
between criminal and family law procedures, policies and protocols and the disproportionate
impact of violence for women leaving abusive relationships and the invariably connected threat to
their children, that tragedies such as those in Merritt will happen again and again.
- 30 -
For more information please contact:
Zara Suleman
Family Law Director
West Coast LEAF
(604) 684-8772
info@westcoastleaf.org
Angela MacDougall
Executive Director
Battered Women’s Support Services
(604) 687-1613 or (604) 687-1868
For immediate release
April 11, 2008
Women and Children at Risk for Their Lives in Family Law Disputes
Law Reform Must Address the Reality of Women’s experience of Family
Violence
(Vancouver) - West Coast Women’s Legal Education Action Fund (LEAF) is deeply concerned
about how our family law system is dealing with family violence.
“Family violence is not experienced equally by men and women,” says Family Law Project
Director Zara Suleman. “Family violence is almost always violence by men against women.”
“Section 15 of the Charter expressly says that women are entitled to the ‘equal protection of the
law’,” points out Alison Brewin, Executive Director of West Coast LEAF. “This lack of gendered
analysis to violence against women and children allows the violence to continue.”
West Coast LEAF is saddened to see yet another horrific example of this in the recent tragedy of
the three children murdered in Merritt. Darcie Clark, the mother of the children had moved to
Merritt to get away from her ex-husband after he had threatened her life.
This is not an isolated incident. It was in this same week in April 1996 in the Vernon Massacre
that Rajwar Gakhal and nine members of her family were shot and murdered by her estranged
husband. But the Vernon Massacre and the resulting Inquest did not see an end to such terrifying
incidents of violence and murder of women and children in B.C. In fact we have continued to
experience such tragedies. Some examples are:
• September 4th, 2007, in Victoria, B.C., Yong Sun Park, her son and her parents were all
stabbed to death by her husband, Peter Lee.,
• October 19th, 2006, in Port Coquitlam, B.C., Gurjeet Ghuman was shot twice point blank
in the head by her estranged husband as she dropped off her daughter. Gurjeet survived
but is now blind.
• In 2003, Sherry Heron and her mother, Anna Adams were murdered at Mission Memorial
Hospital by Sherry’s estranged husband. Sherry had a restraining order in place while she
was in the hospital.
• In 2003, in Nanaimo B.C. Denise Purdy was stabbed to death by her estranged husband.
• In 2002, in Quatsino, B.C. Sonya Handel’s 6 children were drugged, strangled and shot
and left to die in their burning home by their father Jay Handel. Crown identified that Mr.
Handel was unable to deal with his wife’s demands for a divorce.
“Women facing violence in their relationships who seek safety for themselves and their children
by leaving their abusive partners are then still required in family law to ensure the children’s
access with the abusive ex-partner,” says Angela MacDougall of Battered Women’s Support
Services. “In addition, the gap between criminal restraining orders and orders for joint or shared
parenting arrangements conflict increasing women and children’s vulnerability to violence.”
“We need concrete changes to the criminal justice and family law systems that coordinate
services to protect women and children in B.C.” demands Suleman, “Police, legal and court
systems need to understand that safety issues for women facing violence in their relationships and
the protection of their children are not separate issues but are fundamentally interconnected. We
cannot address one without the other.”
Research indicates that women and children are most at risk when women are in the process of
separating from their spouses. Furthermore facilitating custody and access places women and
children at more risk for harm where the father has been abusive or violent to his spouse. Every
week in Canada at least one woman is murdered by her ex-partner. [Statistics:
www.endingviolence.org/files/uploads/VAWIRFactSheet.pdf ]
Family law reform in B.C. has currently been engaging the issue of family violence in the recent
Review of the Family Relations Act. West Coast LEAF is encouraged that such initiatives are
being taken but worries that without an analysis that recognizes the inequality of women, the gaps
between criminal and family law procedures, policies and protocols and the disproportionate
impact of violence for women leaving abusive relationships and the invariably connected threat to
their children, that tragedies such as those in Merritt will happen again and again.
- 30 -
For more information please contact:
Zara Suleman
Family Law Director
West Coast LEAF
(604) 684-8772
info@westcoastleaf.org
Angela MacDougall
Executive Director
Battered Women’s Support Services
(604) 687-1613 or (604) 687-1868
Friday, 2 May 2008
THERE IS A PROGRAM FOR ABUSED ANIMALS-WHAT ABOUT ABUSED PEOPLE???
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY
Nanc found out about this program run by Rescue Ink in the U.S.. It looks a lot like our Family Violence Education Initiative, with one big difference. Maybe we should get tatooed all over!?
This is not the first time that we have noticed that animals get more protection than women, children, and the elderly in our society.
The School Visitation Initiative
sign up now
In conjunction with law enforcement and animal control officials, Rescue Ink members visit elementary and middle schools, presenting a program designed to instill an appreciation of the value of animals, and to teach children how to spot and properly report instances of animal abuse and neglect. The curriculum fosters respect and consideration for animals via one-on-one interaction with positive role models, and contact with rescued animals.
The Rescue Ink members who participate in the School Visitation Initiative Program say that the experience gives them a feeling of nostalgia, and reminds them of their days attending school. We even have a member who likes to drop by the Principal's office in every school he visits. After all, he told us, it's where he spent most of his time.
Nanc found out about this program run by Rescue Ink in the U.S.. It looks a lot like our Family Violence Education Initiative, with one big difference. Maybe we should get tatooed all over!?
This is not the first time that we have noticed that animals get more protection than women, children, and the elderly in our society.
The School Visitation Initiative
sign up now
In conjunction with law enforcement and animal control officials, Rescue Ink members visit elementary and middle schools, presenting a program designed to instill an appreciation of the value of animals, and to teach children how to spot and properly report instances of animal abuse and neglect. The curriculum fosters respect and consideration for animals via one-on-one interaction with positive role models, and contact with rescued animals.
The Rescue Ink members who participate in the School Visitation Initiative Program say that the experience gives them a feeling of nostalgia, and reminds them of their days attending school. We even have a member who likes to drop by the Principal's office in every school he visits. After all, he told us, it's where he spent most of his time.
Friday, 29 February 2008
HEARING DATE SET!
OCTOBER 17th IS THE DAY!
Sorry to all that are following this blog for not posting more often lately.
The hearing date is set, and I think we are, as well.
We have been feeling pretty beat up by this whole incredibly drawn out process. It has sapped our energy and our resources. I am working again, to keep the wolves from the door, and we are selling our house. Would we do it again? You betcha! Is it hard on us? Brutal. But, at the end of the day, Nanc has a chance to change things for thousands of women.
There is no turning back or walking away.
We wait, and survive......
Sorry to all that are following this blog for not posting more often lately.
The hearing date is set, and I think we are, as well.
We have been feeling pretty beat up by this whole incredibly drawn out process. It has sapped our energy and our resources. I am working again, to keep the wolves from the door, and we are selling our house. Would we do it again? You betcha! Is it hard on us? Brutal. But, at the end of the day, Nanc has a chance to change things for thousands of women.
There is no turning back or walking away.
We wait, and survive......
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
WHAT IF THIS HAPPENED TO YOU?
That we call ourselves a civilized society, yet we tolerate the dismissal of basic human rights for thousands of our citizens, seems to me to be the most egregious hypocrisy. Here in B.C., the situation has been compounded by the actions of the provincial government. In the mid '90s, the NDP government of the day disallowed family law issues from the legal aid system.
So, let's see, a woman, for example, gets cut off from the family assets when she flees an abusive family home. Neither the family accountant nor the family banks will give her financial information because they know that she will be destitute until some agreement is reached in the divorce process, and their client is now solely the abusive husband. She applies for legal aid to hire a lawyer that will represent her in this process, and is denied because it is a family law matter. She goes to the police about the abuse and being cut off from her assets, and is told there is insufficient proof to lay charges. Church and family turn their backs on her because of the allegations of abuse against the husband, who has been perceived as an upstanding gent. Of course, he will also be the only one of the two of them who will be able to continue to contribute financially to church and family. Nobody likes a poor person on their doorstep.
In fact, the accountant, banker, pastor, family, and police all recommend that she go to a halfway house and start getting over it and on with the rest of her life.
How will you feel when this happens to you? It is happening to thousands of people every year. Is that OK with you?
So, let's see, a woman, for example, gets cut off from the family assets when she flees an abusive family home. Neither the family accountant nor the family banks will give her financial information because they know that she will be destitute until some agreement is reached in the divorce process, and their client is now solely the abusive husband. She applies for legal aid to hire a lawyer that will represent her in this process, and is denied because it is a family law matter. She goes to the police about the abuse and being cut off from her assets, and is told there is insufficient proof to lay charges. Church and family turn their backs on her because of the allegations of abuse against the husband, who has been perceived as an upstanding gent. Of course, he will also be the only one of the two of them who will be able to continue to contribute financially to church and family. Nobody likes a poor person on their doorstep.
In fact, the accountant, banker, pastor, family, and police all recommend that she go to a halfway house and start getting over it and on with the rest of her life.
How will you feel when this happens to you? It is happening to thousands of people every year. Is that OK with you?
OFF TO OTTAWA AND BRIEFING NOTES ON NANC'S CASE
We are flying to Ottawa for the next few days. The trip is first and foremost for the resolution of my case, but we will take the opportunity to circulate the following briefing notes and talk to key people about Nanc's case. I will have the spotlight for a bit starting Thursday, and I plan to use that to illuminate the dark world of family violence.
Briefing notes: Supreme Court of Canada Rick vs. Brandsema
With close to half of all marriages ending in dissolution, the increasing affluence of middle and upper middle class Canadians, and the vast majority of couples resolving their financial issues by way of agreements, the duties of spouses in the formation of family law agreements is of critical national importance.
On April 18, 2007, three male judges of the Appeals Court of British Columbia rendered a decision in the case of Rick vs. Brandsema that removes any hope for women in abusive relationships.
The effect of this decision is to say to those women that matters of conscience, justice, equality, equity, and fairness, do not apply to them. It matters not that there was a power imbalance in the relationship, lack of sophistication of the victim, proven fraud on the part of the abuser, diagnosed and treated Post Traumatic Stress, and emotional fragility clearly demonstrated in court. If an abusive spouse can withhold information, hide money, and con you into signing a patently unfair agreement, you are done and no one cares.
Apparently British common law no longer works for women in Canada. That bastion of fairness that protected the average person from bad applications of statutory law, is irrelevant now. The abusive spouse can coerce you, con you, hide things from you, use your children against you, beat you down until you are just breathing, and then: if you sign it, you are done and no one cares.
When the letter of statutory law becomes more important than the people it is meant to serve and protect, it is fatally flawed. We do not believe that it was the intent of those who drafted or enacted our laws that they be applied in such an unforgiving, inflexible, and unjust manner. We do not believe that it was the intent of legislators to deprive abused women of hope, and of their rights. The Charter of Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities speaks to a fundamental right to equality under the law. Does “equality” mean that an undereducated woman that has been kept in an isolated farm culture, where lack of real information or outright misinformation and tolerance of spousal abuse is the norm, stands before the court on an equal footing with her “husband”, a sophisticated wife beater that sits on numerous corporate and organizational boards? Is she equal when she signs documents that she cannot see, let alone understand? Does the Charter err in demanding equality for each man and woman vs. fairness in circumstance? We do not believe that the Charter excludes consideration of circumstances, but will leave that issue to scholars to debate. If it is true, then the Charter is fatally flawed as well.
This decision has created a legal precedent that offends every sense of conscience. It indicates a fundamental erosion of the rights that suffragettes fought for over the last hundred years, and is an erosion of our commitment to human rights in this country. Women comprise some 50% of the votes, we think there is a base for some political action here. It is time for women and men of conscience to stand united once again to demand fairness and real justice before the courts.
Ms. Rick has applied for, and been granted leave to bring this matter before the Supreme Court of Canada. The leave panel included Chief Justice Beverly Maclachlin and Justices Charron and Rothstein.
Ms. Rick feels that it is a matter of national importance and wishes to know if the appeals court ruling is, in fact, the will of the Canadian justice system. She does not believe that “no one cares.” She asks that you review this decision and, if you decide that you do care, take action to let the Supreme Court of Canada know how you feel. Please circulate this message to others who may also care. The fundamental right of fair treatment of all abused women, and men, before the law is at stake.
The issues at law:
This is an important case on the formation of family law agreements, involving the duty of disclosure, unconscionability, undue influence, the meaning of independent legal advice, and the effect of consent dismissal orders on statutory review.
The current leading SCC cases - Miglin v. Miglin and Hartshorne v. Hartshorne, did not address what would constitute review for procedural fairness. Rick v. Brandsema will give our highest court an opportunity to hopefully establish better guidelines as to the duties of parties in the formation of family law agreements.
To encourage people to settle their domestic financial affairs by way of agreements, the rules leading to the formation of these agreements have to be clear. What are the duties of separating spouses in the settlement process as to disclosure and the mental and emotional state of their spouses?
Link to SCC case info:
http://cases-dossiers.scc-csc.gc.ca/information/cms/docket_e.asp?32098
Briefing notes: Supreme Court of Canada Rick vs. Brandsema
With close to half of all marriages ending in dissolution, the increasing affluence of middle and upper middle class Canadians, and the vast majority of couples resolving their financial issues by way of agreements, the duties of spouses in the formation of family law agreements is of critical national importance.
On April 18, 2007, three male judges of the Appeals Court of British Columbia rendered a decision in the case of Rick vs. Brandsema that removes any hope for women in abusive relationships.
The effect of this decision is to say to those women that matters of conscience, justice, equality, equity, and fairness, do not apply to them. It matters not that there was a power imbalance in the relationship, lack of sophistication of the victim, proven fraud on the part of the abuser, diagnosed and treated Post Traumatic Stress, and emotional fragility clearly demonstrated in court. If an abusive spouse can withhold information, hide money, and con you into signing a patently unfair agreement, you are done and no one cares.
Apparently British common law no longer works for women in Canada. That bastion of fairness that protected the average person from bad applications of statutory law, is irrelevant now. The abusive spouse can coerce you, con you, hide things from you, use your children against you, beat you down until you are just breathing, and then: if you sign it, you are done and no one cares.
When the letter of statutory law becomes more important than the people it is meant to serve and protect, it is fatally flawed. We do not believe that it was the intent of those who drafted or enacted our laws that they be applied in such an unforgiving, inflexible, and unjust manner. We do not believe that it was the intent of legislators to deprive abused women of hope, and of their rights. The Charter of Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities speaks to a fundamental right to equality under the law. Does “equality” mean that an undereducated woman that has been kept in an isolated farm culture, where lack of real information or outright misinformation and tolerance of spousal abuse is the norm, stands before the court on an equal footing with her “husband”, a sophisticated wife beater that sits on numerous corporate and organizational boards? Is she equal when she signs documents that she cannot see, let alone understand? Does the Charter err in demanding equality for each man and woman vs. fairness in circumstance? We do not believe that the Charter excludes consideration of circumstances, but will leave that issue to scholars to debate. If it is true, then the Charter is fatally flawed as well.
This decision has created a legal precedent that offends every sense of conscience. It indicates a fundamental erosion of the rights that suffragettes fought for over the last hundred years, and is an erosion of our commitment to human rights in this country. Women comprise some 50% of the votes, we think there is a base for some political action here. It is time for women and men of conscience to stand united once again to demand fairness and real justice before the courts.
Ms. Rick has applied for, and been granted leave to bring this matter before the Supreme Court of Canada. The leave panel included Chief Justice Beverly Maclachlin and Justices Charron and Rothstein.
Ms. Rick feels that it is a matter of national importance and wishes to know if the appeals court ruling is, in fact, the will of the Canadian justice system. She does not believe that “no one cares.” She asks that you review this decision and, if you decide that you do care, take action to let the Supreme Court of Canada know how you feel. Please circulate this message to others who may also care. The fundamental right of fair treatment of all abused women, and men, before the law is at stake.
The issues at law:
This is an important case on the formation of family law agreements, involving the duty of disclosure, unconscionability, undue influence, the meaning of independent legal advice, and the effect of consent dismissal orders on statutory review.
The current leading SCC cases - Miglin v. Miglin and Hartshorne v. Hartshorne, did not address what would constitute review for procedural fairness. Rick v. Brandsema will give our highest court an opportunity to hopefully establish better guidelines as to the duties of parties in the formation of family law agreements.
To encourage people to settle their domestic financial affairs by way of agreements, the rules leading to the formation of these agreements have to be clear. What are the duties of separating spouses in the settlement process as to disclosure and the mental and emotional state of their spouses?
Link to SCC case info:
http://cases-dossiers.scc-csc.gc.ca/information/cms/docket_e.asp?32098
Thursday, 29 November 2007
LEAVE GRANTED WITH COSTS!!!
Here is the press release from the SCC:
http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/news_release/2007/07-11-29.3a/07-11-29.3a.html
http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/news_release/2007/07-11-29.3a/07-11-29.3a.html
LEAVE GRANTED!!!
We are going to the Supreme Court of Canada!
Leave was granted today for Nanc's case to proceed. We have been expecting it for the last few weeks, hence nothing to report. It has been a tense time but now another hurdle has been passed. Jack (Nanc's lawyer) is excited about the opportunity to craft new law setting down much needed guidelines for the process of forming agreements in family law. That is really the core of Nanc's case. It is unconscionable that a stronger spouse can literally hold a gun to the other spouse's head to force him or her to sign an agreement, and then have that agreement be unassailable by legal means. That was the gist of the Appeals Court's decision, and it can not be allowed to stand!
More later, we are too excited.........
Leave was granted today for Nanc's case to proceed. We have been expecting it for the last few weeks, hence nothing to report. It has been a tense time but now another hurdle has been passed. Jack (Nanc's lawyer) is excited about the opportunity to craft new law setting down much needed guidelines for the process of forming agreements in family law. That is really the core of Nanc's case. It is unconscionable that a stronger spouse can literally hold a gun to the other spouse's head to force him or her to sign an agreement, and then have that agreement be unassailable by legal means. That was the gist of the Appeals Court's decision, and it can not be allowed to stand!
More later, we are too excited.........
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
TOCK!
canada, canadian search engine, free email, canada news
Wednesday » December 19 » 2007
Top court petitioned on divorce equality
Wife loses out because of 'access to legal advice'
Joey Thompson
The Province
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
An Abbotsford mom who claims she came up $600,000 short in a mediated separation deal with her ex-husband is hoping Canada's top court will grant her plea for pay equity.
Fifty-two-year-old Nancy Rick says she proposed the settlement pay-out to Ben Brandsema while an emotional wreck triggered by a strict, abusive upbringing and aggravated by 28 stormy years with the dairy farmer.
The mother of four, who tried to end her life while in her teens, said she was too vulnerable and confused, a result of post-traumatic-stress disorder, to see she wasn't getting her fair share. Nor was she able to detect that Brandsema hadn't disclosed the true value of the couple's many holdings, including several large properties, cattle, a milk quota, equipment, vehicles and RRSPs.
She said she was too depressed to even read, much less do the math on the 2001 split-up agreement that gave her approximately $1 million.
Indeed, a specialist in post-trauma psychiatry testified that Rick's PTSD symptoms were "among the most extreme" he had ever seen.
A trial judge in B.C. Supreme Court agreed the homemaker, who laboured on the farm alongside her husband, was troubled and that Brandsema, knowing she was mentally unstable when they began negotiating, took advantage of her.
Justice Harry Slade said Rick received only 30 per cent of the family assets instead of the 50/50 split the couple had initially planned on -- partly because Brandsema had provided misleading information about their $3-million estate after they split in 2000.
He said Brandsema owed her an additional $649,680.
But B.C.'s top court said too bad, so sad if Rick missed the boat. After all, the all-male panel noted, she had consulted lawyers, accountants and two mediators. In a 2003 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada implied that access to professional legal advice can compensate for some vulnerabilities or imbalances.
"Should the husband have been obliged to tell the wife that her proposal was not enough and that she should demand more?" top court Justice Edward Chiasson asked.
"This is not a case of mental incapacity, undue influence or duress. [They] were participating in mediation, part of that process involved the recommendation that the parties obtain legal advice. The wife had done so and did so again.
"[She] was troubled but it is clear that she knew what she was doing."
Chiasson said the lower court allowed equality to trump fairness.
But family law lawyer Jack Hittrich says the appeal court's ruling sends a disturbing, chilling message to Canadians: Even when a separating spouse has mental-health issues, even when there was misrepresentation as to assets, even when they both intended that their assets be equalized, as long as they had access to legal advice, the agreement will be binding.
"This case raises significant issues of national importance about the duties of negotiating parties in family law agreements," he states in a written petition to the nation's top court. "Without proper judicial guidance from our highest court, thousands of future couples will either be deprived of just settlements or will have to face costly and uncertain litigation."
- - -
Phone: 604-605-2119
Fax: 604-605-2099
jthompson@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2007
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Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Wednesday » December 19 » 2007
Top court petitioned on divorce equality
Wife loses out because of 'access to legal advice'
Joey Thompson
The Province
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
An Abbotsford mom who claims she came up $600,000 short in a mediated separation deal with her ex-husband is hoping Canada's top court will grant her plea for pay equity.
Fifty-two-year-old Nancy Rick says she proposed the settlement pay-out to Ben Brandsema while an emotional wreck triggered by a strict, abusive upbringing and aggravated by 28 stormy years with the dairy farmer.
The mother of four, who tried to end her life while in her teens, said she was too vulnerable and confused, a result of post-traumatic-stress disorder, to see she wasn't getting her fair share. Nor was she able to detect that Brandsema hadn't disclosed the true value of the couple's many holdings, including several large properties, cattle, a milk quota, equipment, vehicles and RRSPs.
She said she was too depressed to even read, much less do the math on the 2001 split-up agreement that gave her approximately $1 million.
Indeed, a specialist in post-trauma psychiatry testified that Rick's PTSD symptoms were "among the most extreme" he had ever seen.
A trial judge in B.C. Supreme Court agreed the homemaker, who laboured on the farm alongside her husband, was troubled and that Brandsema, knowing she was mentally unstable when they began negotiating, took advantage of her.
Justice Harry Slade said Rick received only 30 per cent of the family assets instead of the 50/50 split the couple had initially planned on -- partly because Brandsema had provided misleading information about their $3-million estate after they split in 2000.
He said Brandsema owed her an additional $649,680.
But B.C.'s top court said too bad, so sad if Rick missed the boat. After all, the all-male panel noted, she had consulted lawyers, accountants and two mediators. In a 2003 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada implied that access to professional legal advice can compensate for some vulnerabilities or imbalances.
"Should the husband have been obliged to tell the wife that her proposal was not enough and that she should demand more?" top court Justice Edward Chiasson asked.
"This is not a case of mental incapacity, undue influence or duress. [They] were participating in mediation, part of that process involved the recommendation that the parties obtain legal advice. The wife had done so and did so again.
"[She] was troubled but it is clear that she knew what she was doing."
Chiasson said the lower court allowed equality to trump fairness.
But family law lawyer Jack Hittrich says the appeal court's ruling sends a disturbing, chilling message to Canadians: Even when a separating spouse has mental-health issues, even when there was misrepresentation as to assets, even when they both intended that their assets be equalized, as long as they had access to legal advice, the agreement will be binding.
"This case raises significant issues of national importance about the duties of negotiating parties in family law agreements," he states in a written petition to the nation's top court. "Without proper judicial guidance from our highest court, thousands of future couples will either be deprived of just settlements or will have to face costly and uncertain litigation."
- - -
Phone: 604-605-2119
Fax: 604-605-2099
jthompson@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2007
Close
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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