Proposals
These proposals let family law lawyers discuss and vote on what changes they think should be made to the law or court procedures. The results can be viewed and shared with legislators and the Courts. The proposals put forth are written by member lawyers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this website or its administrators. You can view more proposals or make a proposal yourself.
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 2 Comments |
The 2018 Federal Budget included funding for 17 judges to create a Unified Family Court in Alberta. At that time, UFCs had already been established in Manitoba, New Brunswick, PEI, parts of Saskatchewan, and parts of Ontario. 100% in favour out of 29 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 1 Comment |
This year AFCC has put a lot of effort into an important review of Parenting Coordination. Earlier in the year they sought feedback on a variety of issues relating to Parenting Coordination. I thought I'd bring up this potential change in particular to gauge support within the legal community. Courts already order parents to attend counselling and mediation, which is generally in the children's best interests. Dispensing with a parent's consent to meet with a psychologist or lawyer Parenting Coordinator isn't a significant hurdle from a legal perspective. The issue has been that courts have been unable to delegate their decision-making authority absent contract or explicit legislation. I believe AFCC is already hard at work addressing educational/experience requirements and better defining the rules around Parenting Coordination. Subsidizing Parenting Coordination for lower income families and psychologists' professional obligations and regulation are separate issues, for now I'm just asking the legal profession if we'd support either some or all decisions being delegated to Parenting Coordinators without parental consent. The procedural fairness afforded by courts might debatably be appropriate for critical issues such as the basic parenting arrangement or relocation (although I have my doubts), perhaps appeals should still be allowed (albeit with a high degree of deference), and perhaps in some scenarios it might be appropriate to have lawyer assistance during the process where there's a power imbalance or client not willing to speak up for themselves. However, I can't see any reason why the court is more suitable to decide ongoing parenting issues than a specially trained and experienced Parenting Coordinator. Parenting Coordination generally leads to to more appropriate outcomes, at a lower cost, and quicker so that they don't have to continuously be at war. That way, more parents can also access professional assistance to resolve their disputes, and obtain justice. There was an interesting article out of Ontario yesterday in the Lawyer's Daily which discusses a child-centered approach to delegating decision-making to Parenting Coordinators: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/business/ ... 86% in favour out of 14 votes | ||
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![]() | Anonymous | 6 Comments |
A new announcement states that effective November 1st KB will no longer backdate filing, even when they reject or are slow to file. 100% in favour out of 30 votes | ||
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![]() | Wayne Barkauskas, K.C. of Wise Scheible Barkauskas (Alberta) | 8 Comments |
You will note that the "Criminal Defense Lawyers Association" is very specific and exclusive. It allows them to advocate loudly for their unique interests without jeopardizing other advocacy efforts on other matters (unlike the CBA Criminal Law Section). 100% in favour out of 25 votes | ||
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![]() | Anonymous | 13 Comments |
There should be a separate section of QB where the Justices deal only with family law matters, similar to PC. Otherwise, all QB Justices should be given extensive family law training before they're allowed to handle family law cases. 100% in favour out of 32 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 7 Comments |
This time the QB Family Law Consulting Committee is seeking feedback regarding file management at the Court. They're looking for both criticism and praise of what does work well, and any suggestions about how to improve the process. I will pass along your feedback, or you're welcome to provide feedback directly to Teri Burant at tburant@emeryjamieson.com or 780-970-6291. Please provide feedback by February 2, 2022. 71% in favour out of 7 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 0 Comments |
This time the QB Family Law Consulting Committee is seeking feedback regarding file management at the Court. They're looking for both criticism and praise of what does work well, and any suggestions about how to improve the process. I will pass along your feedback, or you're welcome to provide feedback directly to Teri Burant at tburant@emeryjamieson.com or 780-970-6291. Please provide feedback by February 2, 2022. 80% in favour out of 5 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 0 Comments |
This time the QB Family Law Consulting Committee is seeking feedback regarding file management at the Court. They're looking for both criticism and praise of what does work well, and any suggestions about how to improve the process. I will pass along your feedback, or you're welcome to provide feedback directly to Teri Burant at tburant@emeryjamieson.com or 780-970-6291. Please provide feedback by February 2, 2022. 50% in favour out of 2 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 1 Comment |
In England, couples can use £500 vouchers for mediation ($851 CAD). I imagine that has to be a lot less expensive than paying for additional judges, clerks, and security. 92% in favour out of 13 votes | ||
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![]() | Ken Proudman of BARR LLP (Alberta) | 4 Comments |
This time the QB Family Law Consulting Committee is seeking feedback regarding chambers. They're looking for both criticism and praise of what does work well, and any suggestions about how to improve the process. I will pass along your feedback, or you're welcome to provide feedback directly to Teri Burant at tburant@emeryjamieson.com or 780-970-6291. Please provide feedback by January 18, 2022. 60% in favour out of 10 votes | ||