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The Wisdom of Pazaratz!

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  • The Wisdom of Pazaratz!

    1. How did parents ever raise children before Family Court was invented?

    2. Where did they scribble their endless complaints about one another, before we gave them fill-in-the-blank forms called affidavits?

    3. In Hamilton, where did angry, vengeful parents hang out on Fridays at 10:00 a.m., before the advent of “motions court”?

    4. As a judicial system, we like to think we’re helping people. Sometimes we even succeed.

    5. But when many of our regular customers regard repeated trips to Family Court as “no big deal”, perhaps all we’re really doing is creating lazy parents. It’s easier to dump a mess on a judge, than to grow up and raise your own children.

    6. Most families come to us once, at a time of crisis. They solve their problems. And they never come back.

    7. But our system is plagued by a small group of frequent flyers who keep adding new chapters to their horror story. They keep coming back because we’ve made it easy for them. And perversely, they almost seem to enjoy it.

    8. There are all sorts of reasons that this has to stop.

    9. As a community, we can’t afford to fund courtrooms as a playground for petulance.

    10. But most importantly, these endless court cases are usually about children. And no matter how much parents pretend that each salvo is “for the sake of the child”, the reality is that endless conflict and litigation inevitably breeds family misery. And children end up being robbed of their joy and innocence.
    Peters-Webb v. Cloutier, 2017 ONSC 6139 (CanLII)

    Date: 2017-10-16
    Docket: 3612/14
    Citation: Peters-Webb v. Cloutier, 2017 ONSC 6139 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/h6mhg

  • #2
    1. There’s no such thing as being a good parent half the time. Parenting requires consistency. You can’t mathematically average the impact of alternating wonderful and terrible experiences on a young child. In child protection, it’s the “low’s” we have to worry about.
    Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton v. V.C. et al., 2017 ONSC 5557 (CanLII)

    Date: 2017-09-26
    Docket: C-887/17
    Citation: Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton v. V.C. et al., 2017 ONSC 5557 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/h6b31

    Comment


    • #3
      [1] If you claim you’re so poor you can’t afford a penny of child support, best not to be driving a red Ferrari convertible. In addition to two Mercedes-Benzes. In addition to….well, we’ll get to that.
      Benzeroual v Issa and Farag, 2017 ONSC 3655 (CanLII)

      Date: 2017-06-15
      Docket: 48/16
      Citation: Benzeroual v Issa and Farag, 2017 ONSC 3655 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/h4bh1

      Comment


      • #4
        1. How did parents ever raise children before Family Court was invented?
        You mean, how did parents raise children before there was sole custody and child support? That's easy, Like normal people.


        As a judicial system, we like to think we’re helping people. Sometimes we even succeed.
        You absolutely do succeed when you allow a child (where neither parent is a criminal) to have equal relationship with both parents.

        But when many of our regular customers regard repeated trips to Family Court as “no big deal”, perhaps all we’re really doing is creating lazy parents. It’s easier to dump a mess on a judge, than to grow up and raise your own children.
        If you were able to help them, then they wouldn't come back. Especially if you are not allowing them a chance to grow up and raise their own children - and rather turning them into visitors and treating them like children and then act surprised when they come back to your court complaining.

        Comment


        • #5
          [1] If you claim you’re so poor you can’t afford a penny of child support, best not to be driving a red Ferrari convertible. In addition to two Mercedes-Benzes. In addition to….well, we’ll get to that.
          And what about the case where the support reciepent claims to be to poor and in need of support, and can't pay for child's passport, etc, because they are on welfare, while driving a $25000 Mercedez-Benz which monthly payments equal to the amount of child support they receive every month ? Will we get to that too ?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Tayken View Post
            Peters-Webb v. Cloutier, 2017 ONSC 6139 (CanLII)
            I was reading that case yesterday.

            Pazaratz points out that court was "free" for both parents so no reason not to litigate.

            My first thought was: "Doesn't legal aid have the same issue?"

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Janus View Post
              I was reading that case yesterday.

              Pazaratz points out that court was "free" for both parents so no reason not to litigate.

              My first thought was: "Doesn't legal aid have the same issue?"
              Yup.

              Originally posted by Pazaratz
              1. The popular beverage has a catchy slogan: “Red Bull gives you wings.”
              2. But at this costs hearing, the self-represented Respondent father suggested a wry variation: “Legal Aid gives you wings.”
              3. He now seeks costs in relation to a 17 day custody trial which resulted in my 606 paragraph judgment dated November 9, 2011. He won; sole custody. The Applicant mother was represented by counsel. Her poor finances qualified her for Legal Aid. Now she says those same poor finances should excuse her from paying costs.
              4. The Respondent asks a valid question: Does she have wings? Can she do whatever she wants in court, without ever worrying about fees – hers or anyone else’s?
              ...

              Originally posted by pazaratz
              In the case at bar, the Applicant conducted herself as if her Legal Aid certificate amounted to a blank cheque – unlimited resources which most unrepresented Respondents would be hard-pressed to match. A scheduled 3-4 day trial turned into 17 days, largely because the Applicant fought every issue and pursued every dubious allegation, to the bitter end. She appeared to make up evidence and allegations as she went along. She defied court orders directly impacting on the child, even while the trial was underway. There have to be consequences. Either we sanction this irresponsible and destructive behaviour, or we invite more of the same.
              Izyuk v. Bilousov, 2011 ONSC 7476 (CanLII)

              Date: 2011-12-16
              Docket: F2172/09
              Other citations: 7 RFL (7th) 358; [2011] CarswellOnt 14392; [2011] OJ No 5814 (QL); 210 ACWS (3d) 143
              Citation: Izyuk v. Bilousov, 2011 ONSC 7476 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/fpd0d

              And...

              1. The next time anyone at Legal Aid Ontario tells you they’re short of money, don’t believe it. It can’t possibly be true. Not if they’re funding cases like this.
              2. The facts are simple. There are no complicated legal issues. Hardly worth a written endorsement, really.
              3. But every now and then taxpayers ought to be told how their hard earned dollars are spent.

              ...

              18. I have no idea how much the other players in the courtroom get paid. But as a Superior Court Judge I receive approximately $308,600.00 per year. So you can see that not even counting overhead charges and administrative staff in the building, every hour of court time is hugely expensive.
              19. Many taxpayers can’t afford their own lawyers, and don’t qualify for free assistance through Legal Aid. So they end up representing themselves in court. Or facing financial reality and settling without going to court.
              20. But when you pay no taxes and Legal Aid gives you a free lawyer, there’s no incentive to be sensible. Why worry about the cost when some unsuspecting taxpayer out there is footing the bill?

              ...

              22. This is where common sense seems to have gone out the window.
              23. Why should taxpayers be funding a very expensive court case – where each party promises to stay away from the other – simply because one of the parties refuses to put it in writing?
              24. Would a person who actually had to pay for a lawyer out of their own pocket ever fund this kind of dispute?
              25. We’re lucky that Legal Aid Ontario is there to help financially-strapped people who really need lawyers to help with genuine issues. Too often we hear that Legal Aid has refused to help because they don’t have enough money.
              26. So how does a case like this wend its way through our clogged system, squandering scarce judicial and community resources, while no one watches the public purse?
              27. After confirming that Legal Aid was paying for all of this, I couldn’t help but ask some obvious questions:

              a. Is it fair for people who have never paid any taxes to be so cavalier about how they spend other people’s money?
              b. Is it fair that Legal Aid has decided to fund this easily resolvable case, when every day I see people with much more serious and complex problems who have been denied any help by Legal Aid?
              c. Is it fair that more important cases, many involving the well-being of children, couldn’t be dealt with on March 9, 2017 because our court was required to devote one of our limited timeslots to this case?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by trinton View Post
                If you were able to help them, then they wouldn't come back. Especially if you are not allowing them a chance to grow up and raise their own children - and rather turning them into visitors and treating them like children and then act surprised when they come back to your court complaining.
                Actually, you can't help some people because they need to "grow up and raise (their) your own children."

                Until that happens a court can't help them.

                Comment

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