Madam Speaker, I am tabling a petition on behalf of my constituents, who draw to the attention of the House that Canada now has the highest rate of common-law relationships among G7 countries, with the share of co-residing common-law couples increasing from 6% in 1981 to 23% in 2021. There are other statistics that they draw the attention of the House to, including the number of children living with a lone parent, step-parents, parents in a common-law relationship or other non-traditional unions.
The undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call upon the Minister of Justice to initiate a statutory review of the Divorce Act, specifically concerning the federal child support guidelines, which would take into account the evolving reality of blended families and the variance of incomes over time to better reflect the needs of children in shared custody situations.