The Niagara Falls Review

Badly-needed family law investment­s deserve recognitio­n

Province and feds must get credit for working together to solve a problem that impacts families

- PAUL SCHABAS Paul Schabas is treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario.

Outside criminal law, investment­s in our courts rarely make headlines. But they should. No area of law affects Canadians more than family law. And the 2018 federal budget took a big step to improving our family court system. People should take notice.

Last month’s federal budget included $77.2 million over four years, starting in 2019, and then $20.8 million per year ongoing, to support the expansion of Unified Family Courts (UFCs), creating 39 new judicial positions in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundla­nd and Labrador.

This funding will support Phase 1 of Ontario’s plan to immediatel­y expand UFCs to Belleville, Picton, Pembroke, Kitchener, Welland, Simcoe, Cayuga and St. Thomas.

This announceme­nt is welcome news for a system many believe to be in a crisis. Consider the statistics.

In 2016, Ontario’s Family Court Branch and Superior Court of Justice had nearly 50,000 new proceeding­s dealing with divorce and family law-related issues, while the Ontario Court of Justice had nearly 19,000 cases related to family law between September 2016 and October 2017.

A survey commission­ed by the Law Society of Ontario’s Action Group on Access to Justice (TAG) found that 58 per cent of respondent­s ranked finding ways to address problems and improve the family justice system as “most important.”

The problem dates back to our 1867 Constituti­on, which required family law issues to go to different levels of court, depending upon the issue. For example, families seeking a divorce or division of property needed to go to the Superior Court, before federally appointed judges, but were required to see provincial­ly appointed judges in the Ontario Court of Justice about child protection and adoption. Often, families could face related cases in both courts at the same time.

For those already experienci­ng a family breakdown, this complex and often confusing system takes an unnecessar­y additional financial and emotional toll.

Ontario and other provinces started to address this issue years ago. The provincial and federal government­s collaborat­ed in 1977 to pilot the first UFC in Hamilton — where one judge in one court could determine all the legal issues in a family law dispute related to, for example, divorce, custody, child protection and property matters.

These new courts also introduced frontend family justice services, including mediation, mandatory informatio­n and referrals for family litigants, with the goal of helping them resolve their disputes in more holistic ways.

Between 1977 and 1999, UFCs were expanded in Ontario to include 17 of the province’s 50 Superior Court locations — or about 40 per cent of the province. They are currently located in Barrie, Bracebridg­e, Brockville, Cobourg, Cornwall, Hamilton, Kingston, Lindsay, London, L’Original, Napanee, Newmarket, Oshawa, Ottawa, Peterborou­gh, Perth and St. Catharines.

Despite the unqualifie­d success of UFCs, and calls for the model to be adopted across the province, there has been no further expansion since 1999. It requires co-operation and will, from both provincial and federal government­s, which must agree on funding, judicial appointmen­ts and other matters.

We know that a significan­t gap exists between those who qualify for legal aid services and those who need it, resulting in a large segment of Ontario’s middleinco­me population who require legal aid assistance but cannot afford it. For those who act as self-represente­d litigants, UFCs make the system easier to navigate.

For decades, expanding UFCs has been a goal for Ontario’s legal community. With the funding announceme­nt in the budget, more people will have access to a timely, effective and responsive family justice system that contribute­s to less adversaria­l, more sustainabl­e and better outcomes for families and children.

The federal and provincial government­s, and particular­ly their Ministers of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Attorney-General Yasir Naqvi, deserve credit for working together on this issue.

It may not make headlines, but it sure is important.

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