Presuming shared
responsibility between both parents
for their children, by law, is not
only fair to men and more civilized
for children, it's also to women's
advantage. Until women and men share
parenting, there is little possibility
they'll be able to share other political,
intellectual, economic and social
opportunities.
Whether shared custody
means dividing the month evenly between
parents or splitting the arrangement
otherwise, there's no pleasant result
for any child caught in the strands
of divorce. Making the situation worse
for children, by encouraging parental
legal battles is not a rational solution.
We do not claim that genuine joint
equal custody is a panacea, but overall
it is better for children and parents
than the status quo and most importantly:
it respects the fundamental principles
of justice and equality.
Because half of all
marriages end in divorce, thousands
of children in British Columbia now
live with a divorced parent. Women
receive child custody in nine out
of ten uncontested divorce cases,
fathers rarely contest what is usually
presented to them as a foregone conclusion
in all but the most unusual cases.
The Libertarian Party
of British Columbia proposes a change
in family law to bring about the presumption
of Genuine Joint Equal Custody. Parents
might divorce each other, but neither
of them divorces their children...
and both parents would be presumed
able and willing to continue to share
child-raising responsibilities after
a divorce.
With genuine joint
equal custody, no parent would have
the humiliating experience of being
declared a 'secondary care-giver'.
No parent would be forced into being
a mere visitor in his own child's
life. According to Webster's dictionary,
"visitation" means an official
visit, as for inspection, or special
dispensation of divine favor or wrath.
Why reasonable people would expect
decades of financial (or any other)
cooperation from a parent awaiting
special dispensation to take his own
child to the zoo boggles the mind.
If men are talented
enough to be doctors, lawyers, architects
and college professors, they are sufficiently
talented to be equal parents.
Twenty years ago,
in the early days of the feminist
movement, it was assumed that shared
parenting must be the norm. In later
years, responding to conditioning
which has convinced many women their
chief value is as mothers -- producers
and tenders of children -- many in
the feminist movement have taken the
position that it's to women's advantage
to fight for sole custody of children.
Certainly, it is to the advantage
of unprincipled politicians to advance
that view and to ignore the rational
alternatives. Emotions run high in
this issue, and no politician can
afford to alienate a vocal pressure
group.
The political attempts
of the NDP, the Liberals and others
to fight against equal-parenting by
fathers is self-defeating for women.
Winning sole custody and defeating
the libertarian movement's efforts
to establish genuine joint custody
as the norm are Pyrrhic victories
indeed.
Please note that
The Libertarian Party of British Columbia
is NOT against women. What we are
against is arbitrary and capricious
discrimination against parents and
children by government decree, whether
from Liberals, Conservatives, Reform
or NDP. Women who become noncustodial
parents face exactly the same kinds
of problems that visitor-fathers face,
and this will occur more and more
as women gain the economic equality
that has long been (rightly) sought.
Contrary to the the
scurrilous criticism of Liberals,
NDP and conservatives who would maintain
the status quo, we are NOT advocates
of child abuse -- we are very much
AGAINST child abuse. Libertarian Party
of British Columbia members want the
courts and social agencies to recognize
that many vindictive and insecure
ex-spouses make bogus allegations
of abuse during custody battles. Recent
speeches in the Senate of Canada by
Senator Anne C. Cools support our
contention that perjury of that sort
is common, and knowingly tolerated
in Canadian courts by various court
functionaries.
We are opposed to
the overuse of the adversarial court
system for resolving custody disputes.
We think that mediation of these disputes
is vastly superior, but mediation
is most effective when the mediating
parties negotiate from a position
of relative equality under the law.
We are advocates for children, because
too many children are suffering from
the consequences of the courts tearing
one parent out of the children's lives
and making that parent a "visitor"
and a remote wallet. We believe that
is unjust and unfair. It harms children
and ultimately weakens the family
foundations of our society.
From broader social
point of view, the deadly effects
of father-absence on everything from
school failure to crime to teen pregnancy
are well-documented. We need to reverse
this trend soon, because the likelihood
that any given youngster will grow
up with two parents -- diminishes
every day. The Libertarian Party of
British Columbia will directly, and
forthrightly deal with effects of
parental deprivation.
From a personal,
emotional perspective:
The loss of children,
when you take a person's child,
that is a loss, that is a bereavement
of a similar magnitude to the death
of a child. It is not something
that should be done lightly, and
in our courts today, it is being
done, very, very lightly with absolute
impunity and with no regard for
the consequences to the child now
or in the future, or to the father.
What good is the father to a child
if he is a broken man. They know
he can't support the child, he can't
emotionally bond with the child.
The child is the greatest loser
all the way through.
The ultimate sadness
is that we know what works: Two parents,
and a legal presumption of genuine
joint equal custody. The political
will to address this issue currently
exists in ONLY ONE political party:
The Libertarian Party of British Columbia.
Ken Wiebe
Leader, Libertarian Party of British
Columbia
The
BC Libertarian Party is running over
20 candidates in British Columbia's
75 Electorial districts. Vancouver
Island has five declared candidates
running under the Libertarian banner,
including party leader Ken Wiebe in
Saanich South.
Contact:
Ken Wiebe, Leader
BC Libertarian Party
604-384-4505
or
Wayne McLaren, Campaign
Manager for Ken Wiebe
604-598-7848
May
13, 1996
webmaster@clipper.csc.UVic.CA
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