Thank you very much, and good evening.
My name is Janice Christianson-Wood. I am the president of the Canadian Association of Social Workers. I'm very pleased to be testifying today on behalf of our federation and the 50,000 social workers in Canada. I'd like to thank the committee for inviting the perspective of our profession to this important consultation on Bill C-78.
On a personal note, I have had the privilege of spending my social work career in the service of a better world for children, including as a front-line caseworker with Winnipeg Child and Family Services, as a special investigator with the office of Manitoba's chief medical examiner, and as a program specialist at the General Child and Family Services Authority, in addition to research and writing on child deaths and the need for effective and equitable risk assessment.
I've seen first-hand the ways that children are deeply impacted by family relationships. Coincidentally, my last placement as a student, before my first degree, was at the Family Conciliation Services of Manitoba, back in the late eighties. It's nice to know that federal legislation is catching up with practice in a number of the provinces.
Having reviewed the submissions already received, we were pleased to see the excellent brief submitted by the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, of which our organization is a proud member. We join the coalition and many other staunch advocates of children in celebrating these changes in Bill C-78, as they will bring, most notably, the centring of children in the legislation.
We feel that the bill makes a historic step forward for the rights, safety and well-being of children in Canada. The spirit of the changes and the shift in perspective and dialogue that it will bring are deeply aligned with our social work values.
As a profession that privileges consensus-building, non-violent communication, and conflict resolution techniques, we are very pleased at the change in language from adversarial terms like “custody” and “access” to terms like “parenting orders” and “parenting time”. Although these changes may take a while to have their impact, this will likely be a generational change and shift in attitudes. These phrases better support the development of healthy, safe dispute resolution, a key factor in preserving the best interests of the child.
Further, we support changes that will compel lawyers and paralegals to encourage clients to use family dispute resolution services such as mediation instead of proceeding directly to court. Not only will this help to reduce family conflict, but it will also help reduce legal costs, a significant consideration for many single parents, especially women. This would mean that the ability to pay for legal fees will not govern a certain parent's ability to establish a mutually agreeable resolution. As other speakers have said, when you have parents who are committed to this, they can significantly reduce the disruption and expense of a divorce.
We are also very supportive of the changes that would provide courts with measures to address family violence in a comprehensive way. This is such an important and often overlooked area. We are pleased to see children's safety being centred through this measure.
We also agree with the recommendations made in the joint brief by Luke's Place Support and Resource Centre and the National Association of Women and the Law on the importance of stressing the gendered nature of family violence and providing a further definition of the ways that family violence is manifested.
In the same vein, we agree with the joint brief by Luke's Place and the National Association of Women and the Law and support their recommendation for a preamble to the bill acknowledging, one, that women are more likely to be victims of gender-based violence; two, that indigenous women are disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence; and three, that family violence is experienced by women in many different ways, which are shaped by other types of discrimination relating to their race, religion, identity, age, or ability, to name only a few.
CASW also believes that each child, and each family, is unique. Again, the change in language to “parenting orders” and “parenting time” would much better reflect that a child's holistic well-being, including culture, extended family, language, and other considerations, must be paramount.
On this note, we know that there are some individuals and organizations that would have liked to see an equal parenting presumption in this legislation. It's our position that the choice to exclude a presumption in favour of any kind of parenting arrangement is a wise one and would best uphold the best interests of the child in each individual circumstance.
When it comes to a child's safety, happiness and general well-being, there is no one-size model that fits all. With that said, however, we would like to see the spirit of these changes made to centre the child cemented through an explicit reference to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We echo the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children in recommending that section 16 of Bill C-78 “include reference to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, either as a separate article or adding to article 16.1 [the phrase] 'as in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.'”
In terms of next steps, we would also caution that this historic change will need to be accompanied by appropriate education. There will need to be a comprehensive and widespread campaign assisting all those involved in the legal system in making these shifts in understanding and in practice. Social workers who are already practising mediation in government or in private practice look forward to being part of the solution.
Overall, Bill C-78 aligns with our profession's values and with the values of the Canadian Association of Social Workers and our perspectives.
Thank you very much.