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MESA Press Release Archive (return to list)FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The following is an open letter to the Minister of Justice Mr. Martin Cauchon:We note the recent reports of your intention to make superficial changes to the Divorce Act, leaving in place the failed regime of the family courts. We wish to express to you our continuing dismay and disgust with the cruel use of family law and government policies that daily deprive Canadian children of an indispensable asset in life -- the love and guidance of a father. Effects on Children of Living in Fatherless Homes (from various North American sources):
Eliminating custody and access language from the Divorce Act will do precisely nothing to alleviate the suffering of countless thousands of Canadian children. Mr. Cauchon, we see clearly that you are trying to use a notion of "parental responsibility" to suppress consideration of the real needs of children and the indispensable rights of all parents. There can be no enforcement of parental responsibility without due respect for parental authority, but you and your government have shown yourselves completely lacking in respect. We believe that your political investment in hatred toward men has blinded you to the fact that you are destroying the fabric of society.You cannot act out a program of hate without practical cost and human cost that society will be unable to bear. In defaming and destroying fathers, you are punishing their children, their mothers, their fathers, their sisters, their brothers -- in fact, everyone who loves them. What about the many thousands of mothers who are eliminated in one case out of ten by the same brutal instruments that were designed for the fathers of Canada? Do you imagine that Canadians want to see your style of blunt justice applied continually to them and their children? For years, we have repeatedly tried to inform your government, as individuals, as groups, in public consultations (when we have occasionally been allowed to speak), of the horrible damage done by your policy of depriving children of one parent in virtually every divorce. You do not listen. You do not act for the good. You provide funding to, and you solicit policy ideas from, people who hate and vilify men. You spurn and silence men and women who don't share the hatred, or the politically correct victim mentality. Governments spend billions on a family court system that intentionally does something fundamentally unjust: declare one parent the loser in the division of a family. More than anything else, the child of divorce fears the loss of a parent, and the family court does all that it can to guarantee that the child will lose every time. We know that people who overcome family conflict and stay married are generally happier and more productive than people who give up, we know that children generally thrive best and avoid poverty in intact families, but you choose to facilitate family destruction by creating predictable winners and losers in family court. Mr. Cauchon, without any real thought or effort, you reject the simplest form of justice: Equal Parenting. Equal parenting is an equal division of parental time, rights, and responsibilities between both parents, particularly after separation and divorce. Equal parenting is the antidote to the perversion of a family court system that routinely takes parents out of the lives of their children, causing unbearable harm to children and society. Equal parenting eliminates the worst conflicts in divorce, by respecting the rights of both parents and the true interests of the children. In conclusion, we urge you to reconsider the reckless insensitivity of your policy, and talk to us with a genuine openness to the idea of fundamental change for the better in family law, and in government attitudes toward fathers and marriage. Stop constructing an industry of courts, lawyers, social workers, and government-funded feminists. For the first time, listen earnestly to the overwhelming majority of Canadians that love and respect all parents equally. (Supported by the following, growing list of Canadian organizations.)
Note: Additional supporters to this document that were not able to provide their approval at the time of this release will be added at their request.
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