Courts get a new way to discriminate against fathers

Dear friends, If you are a father, if you might become a father, if you have a father, or even if you just love a father, this message is for you.

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Ontario's Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a star-chamber government agency, enforcing ever more draconian laws - taking debtors prisons right out of Dickens' time. It is an abomination, and every province has its equivalent. The most sickening fact is that these laws are enforced disproportionately harshly against the unemployed and the uneducated - precisely those who cannot speak for themselves. (See below.) Those liberals out there who so vehemently clamour for "evidence-based" social policy need to wake up. Where is the vast bulk of the problem of child poverty? Well, over a third of all children living in poverty in Canada live with a lone mother who earns zero income. At least half live with a lone mother who earns not enough income to support herself, let alone a child. At least half of lone mothers make zero financial contribution to their children's well-being. Think about that for a minute. Why isn't the government interested in rounding up all these "deadbeat moms" with the same vigor that they pursue "deadbeat dads"? It can't be because they are all young, single mothers with infants, who are incapable of working. In fact, the average age of lone mothers is 38 - only 3 years younger that the average age of lone fathers. Moreover, lone mothers have higher - yes higher, not lower - educational levels than lone fathers, on average. Yet, lone fathers find a way to earn twice as much income as lone mothers, which is why child poverty is rare among lone fathers. If our courts and our politicians truly cared about the best interests of children, they would make laws that (a) give custody to working dads much more often than at present; and (b) tell single moms to get a job or lose their kids. Is that too harsh? Then why are loving fathers routinely subjected to this inhumane treatment? - dozens of times every day in Canada. Time to have a chat with your MLA and MP. Act locally! Thanks for listening, b. Courts get a new way to discriminate against fathers By Barbara Kay, National Post “They throw guys in jail for non-support all the time, and when they do, the guys serve the whole 30, 60 or 90-day sentence (the term keeps lengthening), even though cocaine dealers routinely get out of jail after serving half their time.” Ontario’s Family Responsibility Office, which is responsible for ensuring that custodial parents don’t get stiffed for child support payments by the non-custodial parent, has a lot of power. Starting Dec. 1, someone (read “father”) in arrears on their support payments can have their car impounded. That’s about the stupidest punishment for non-payment one can imagine, since most people need their cars in order to work. As Lloyd Gorling, a father’s rights activist put it, “How are you going to make support payments if you can’t get to work? If you can’t make support payments, does the government really think you’re going to be taking a taxi every day to work?” More...

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