Madam Speaker, to answer that question I must tell members about an incident. At one time I lived beside a family that used to constantly fight. It was terrible. Pretty soon they would come over and I would hear a little knock at the door. One would be on one end of the chesterfield and the other on the other end so they could get a bit of sleep.
The bill should recognize the equal rights of parents and equal responsibilities. There used to be a time in society that before people got married they had to spend so much time in counselling. Perhaps before people get divorced, there should be a requirement that they spend some time in counselling for the children's sake. They could be advised that if they went a certain route, this is what could happen to the children. They could be advised not to be adversarial because it may ruin the lives of their children. They could be advised that getting a divorce and having the lawyers walk in behind them was not the route to go.
The route to take is to ensure parents know through proper counselling that they are responsible for the lives of their children. They need to know what is best for the children to guarantee them some success in life so they are not socially damaged. However we do not do that. We generally pit one against the other and let the poor kids take the brunt of it. The bill does not solve that. It is just a continuation of what we have now.