Make family law system user-friendly: province
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$19 $0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then billed as $19 every four weeks (new subscribers and qualified returning subscribers only). Cancel anytime.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2017 (2379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Pallister government plans to introduce reforms to Manitoba’s family law system to make it more accessible and less adversarial.
Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said legislation could be introduced as early as next spring. On Wednesday, she announced the formation of an advisory committee of lawyers, judges and community leaders to help drive the process. It will be headed by Allan Fineblit, the former longtime chief executive officer of the Law Society of Manitoba.
“The reality faced by Manitobans who interact with the current system is that, too often, it can be highly adversarial and irreparably damaging for families, especially for young children,” Stefanson told a news conference. “Our government is prepared to make changes to the current model to reduce harm and improve outcomes for families.”
Fineblit, now in private practice with Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP, said issues surrounding divorce, child custody and access to children are some of the most important and difficult that individuals can face.
“The system that we have to resolve those kinds of disputes is expensive, it takes too long, it’s too adversarial — and for many people, the system is just simply not accessible,” he said.
Fineblit said a goal is to come up with more “collaborative” dispute settlement mechanisms that then would be scrutinized and enforced by the courts.
“We know what the problem is. I think the time has come to actually do something about it,” he said. “Right now, the courts are full of self-represented litigants, who don’t want to be there, who don’t frankly have the skills or capacity to fairly represent themselves. The system is very complicated.”
Fineblit said his group could present recommendations to government as early as February or March.
“We hope to work quickly. This isn’t going to be a project that’s going to go on for years. It’s going to be a project that goes on for months,” he said.
Fineblit said there are no Canadian models for what is being attempted in Manitoba, with many provinces making “incremental” improvements to their systems in recent years.
The closest system to what is being envisaged in Manitoba is one that’s used in Australia, he said.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Family law reform committee members
Allan Fineblit (chair): a lawyer and the chief operating officer with Winnipeg law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman. Fineblit was the chief executive officer of the Law Society of Manitoba for 16 years and spent nearly 20 years of his career with Legal Aid Manitoba.
Associate Chief Justice Marianne Rivoalen: appointed a judge of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench family division in 2005. She previously served as a litigation lawyer and as an arbitrator with the Manitoba Labour Board.
Justice Catherine Everett: appointed to the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench family division in 2006. Before being appointed to the provincial court in 1998, she practised with the family law branch of Manitoba Justice and then with the Manitoba Crown prosecutor’s office.
Justice Allan Dueck: appointed to the family division of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba in 2014. He practised family law in Winnipeg before being appointed to the bench.
Justice Kaye Dunlop: appointed to the family division of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba in 2015. She was previously in private practice. She also served as an adjudicator and then deputy chief adjudicator for the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada.
Greg Evans: a lawyer with Evans Family Law Corp. and has practised family law exclusively since 1998.
Patricia Lane: a partner at Taylor McCaffrey LLP and has extensive experience in family law. She has long been a proponent for greater diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. From 1996 to 2014, Lane served as a volunteer with the Women’s Legal Education Action Fund.
Sam Raposo: has practised family law as a private practitioner and as staff lawyer and supervising attorney for Legal Aid Manitoba. Raposo is the deputy executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba.
Neil Cohen: has served as the executive director of the Community Unemployed Help Centre for over 30 years. He is also a founding member of SEED Winnipeg and serves on the Manitoba Federation of Non-profit Organizations and the Human Resources Council for the Nonprofit Sector.
Susan Lewis: former president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Winnipeg and is currently a board member with End Homelessness Winnipeg. She is recipient of both the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada.
Raymond Poirier: a businessman and activist dedicated to Manitoba’s francophone community. He previously served as chair of the Société franco-manitobaine and president of the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities.
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
History
Updated on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 8:40 PM CDT: FInal write through
