Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity.
I want to say that I'm not a lawyer, but I'm here on behalf of B'nai Brith to assist Mr. Syrtash and to represent people who have been part of high-conflict divorces, as I have. Mine recently ended, having lasted 13 years in the courts. It caused great suffering to my family, partly because of the law and its needless procedures, at an expense that was extraordinary.
I ask you to please listen to Mr. Syrtash's comments this afternoon. They are designed to reduce the costs and lead to more certainty and predictability. Thank you for that.
I'm going to introduce Mr. Syrtash.
Mr. Syrtash has 37 years as a family law lawyer and mediator in Toronto, having been called to the bar in 1981. He is currently a senior associate with the Toronto firm Garfin Zeidenberg LLP. His several publications include hundreds of family law articles in the Syrtash family law net-letter for LexisNexis Quicklaw, the Canadian Jewish News and the National Post, and he regularly appears in the media for interviews on family law issues.
He was instrumental in B'nai Brith's lobby for remedial legislation to help obtain religious divorce in 1985, and in 1992 called to get legislation.
Thank you.