Ideology And Dysfunction In Family Law: How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers

By Grant A. Brown, D.Phil., LL.B

For several decades now, fathers have faced significant, widespread bias in family courts across Canada.

But as author Grant Brown shows in a new book, many of the popular prejudices behind this bias simply have no basis in law or fact.

In Ideology And Dysfunction In Family Law – How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers, released today by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Brown shows why dads are getting such a raw deal – and what can be done about it.

Currently, judges routinely deny perfectly normal, loving parents fundamental reproductive and financial freedoms, on the flimsiest of excuses and the poorest of evidence – based solely on their biological sex.

Brown suggests respectable qualitative and quantitative methods that can be brought bear to right this injustice and help judges – and society – appreciate the importance of fathers as co-parents.

“All reputable social science shows that children are better off having maximal contact with both of their parents. Fifteen years ago, a joint committee of Parliament, after a lengthy consultation process, recommended changing the divorce law to equal shared parenting. That recommendation is still favoured by a large majority of Canadians, and is long overdue,” says Brown.

Ideology And Dysfunction In Family Law presents an academically sound but accessible argument that will be of interest to anyone concerned about making the sure the law is doing right by our kids.