A note from Maurice Vellacott, the MP sponsoring Bill C560, Rebuttable presumption of equal parenting

Greetings Colleague,

I have attached a copy of an article from this month’s Family Court Review (FCR), which is a special issue on shared parenting. The article is by the most highly regarded psychologist in the field of child custody, Sanford Braver. It speaks to the perils of the discretionary best interests standard, which is also discussed at length in The Equal Parent Presumption by Professor Edward Kruk of British Columbia.

By the way, there are two articles in this FCR issue by Jennifer McIntosh, who was the primary opponent to shared care of infants and very young children. She has basically retracted her previous opposition on infant overnight access for non-custodial parents. In this issue she acknowledges that, ”cautions against any overnight care during the first three years have not been supported.” I have also attached a recent article from Australia about the McIntosh “fiasco.”

For the sake of the children,

Maurice Vellacott, D.Min., MP

 

The Costs and Pitfalls of Individualizing Decisions and Incentivizing Conflict: A Comment on AFCC’s think Tank Report on Shared Parenting, by Sanford L. Braver

Empty days, lonely nights: A belief that children under three should not stay overnight with their separated or divorced father has underpinned our family law system for years. Has it all been a mistake? Bettina Arndt reports