I ask this because in Manitoba, we have something called “for the sake of the children”. Parents who are divorcing have to go for training to look at their own behaviours in order to co-parent in a way that is in the best interest of the child and to always put the child first. It's really important to always put the child first.
Part of the stigma around this occurs when there is a partner who is experiencing coercive control. There is a fear to even comment about the other parent for fear of being labelled with what they call “malicious parent syndrome”. There are four criteria for this.
The first one is that a person suffering from this syndrome “attempts to punish the divorcing parent through alienating their children from the other parent and involving others or the courts in actions to separate parent and child.” The second is, “Seeks to deny children visitation and communication with the other parent and involvement in the child's school or extra-curricular activities.” The third criterion is “Lies to their children and others repeatedly and may engage in violations of law”. Finally, a person suffering from this syndrome doesn't suffer any other mental disorder which would explain these actions.
I say that because in the case of Dr. Kagan-Viater, she complained 53 times and raised concerns that were valid about the father's visitation with Keira. They were not taken seriously. She was treated as a malicious parent. This resulted in Keira losing her life.
In the judges' training, how are we going to deal with this so that there is not this assumption? If a parent is coming forward with legitimate concerns, even in divorce cases where both parents go through extensive psychological evaluations, this must never be overlooked again. This is costing the lives of children, whether it's physically losing their life or costing their lives in terms of their spirit.
Can one of the panellists respond to that?