Here is an article in today's newspapers about Bill C-252. It is the one where terminally ill parents have rights to see their children. I'll comment below.
More here:
http://www.leukikia.ca/home/componen...page/Itemid,1/
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House unites to change Divorce Act
MPs put partisanship aside after learning of a mother who died before she could say goodbye to her children, writes Tim Naumetz.
Tim Naumetz, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, March 23, 2007
Despite the recent bitter mood in the House of Commons, MPs united on an unprecedented scale this week and voted 302-0 to pass a bill ensuring a terminally ill divorced parent death-bed access to children in the custody of the other parent.
The sister of a woman who died of cancer the day after her estranged husband had police seize their children said she was overwhelmed as she watched the vote Wednesday night from her Lethbridge, Alta., home.
"I had my son in my lap, and I just watched it and my son said, 'Look, all those people are standing up for Auntie Monica'," said Andrea Glover.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing was the primary caregiver for her three children until earlier that year, when she became debilitated by leukemia and a court gave interim custody to her former husband.
By August, doctors had given Ms. Pomahac-Lansing only weeks to live, but relations with her former husband were by then so acrimonious that he sent his brother-in-law, with a police escort, to seize the children from a visit they had just started with their mother.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing collapsed overnight and died in hospital the next morning without seeing her children again. Her relatives brought the children in the morning, but Ms. Pomahac-Lansing by that time was unconscious and died within 10 minutes of their arrival.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing's brother videotaped the final moments of her life, including the police seizure of the children, a stretcher taking her to an ambulance and the tragic scene of her children telling her they wanted to stay with her as they were being taken away.
Ms. Glover and supporters posted the video online as part of a campaign to rally support for Mr. Casson's bill.
Mr. Casson said yesterday the unanimous passage of his bill amending the Divorce Act was a welcome relief from the confrontations of recent days over the federal budget and national security.
"I think a lot of members of Parliament want to work in that kind of atmosphere, not theatre," said Mr. Casson, who expressed appreciation for the support he received from MPs in all parties as the bill wound its way through the Commons in the past year.
The bill amends the Divorce Act to give a terminally or critically ill parent access to children in a broken marriage "as long as such access is consistent with the best interests of the child."
NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis called the passage of the bill "a rare moment."
Liberal MP Bonnie Brown said, "I think we all felt that if a person is actually dying and they have a last wish to see their own children, it should be allowed."
Ms. Glover has been pressing for a police board inquiry into the actions of the Lethbridge officers.
More here:
http://www.leukikia.ca/home/componen...page/Itemid,1/
***********************
House unites to change Divorce Act
MPs put partisanship aside after learning of a mother who died before she could say goodbye to her children, writes Tim Naumetz.
Tim Naumetz, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, March 23, 2007
Despite the recent bitter mood in the House of Commons, MPs united on an unprecedented scale this week and voted 302-0 to pass a bill ensuring a terminally ill divorced parent death-bed access to children in the custody of the other parent.
The sister of a woman who died of cancer the day after her estranged husband had police seize their children said she was overwhelmed as she watched the vote Wednesday night from her Lethbridge, Alta., home.
"I had my son in my lap, and I just watched it and my son said, 'Look, all those people are standing up for Auntie Monica'," said Andrea Glover.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing was the primary caregiver for her three children until earlier that year, when she became debilitated by leukemia and a court gave interim custody to her former husband.
By August, doctors had given Ms. Pomahac-Lansing only weeks to live, but relations with her former husband were by then so acrimonious that he sent his brother-in-law, with a police escort, to seize the children from a visit they had just started with their mother.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing collapsed overnight and died in hospital the next morning without seeing her children again. Her relatives brought the children in the morning, but Ms. Pomahac-Lansing by that time was unconscious and died within 10 minutes of their arrival.
Ms. Pomahac-Lansing's brother videotaped the final moments of her life, including the police seizure of the children, a stretcher taking her to an ambulance and the tragic scene of her children telling her they wanted to stay with her as they were being taken away.
Ms. Glover and supporters posted the video online as part of a campaign to rally support for Mr. Casson's bill.
Mr. Casson said yesterday the unanimous passage of his bill amending the Divorce Act was a welcome relief from the confrontations of recent days over the federal budget and national security.
"I think a lot of members of Parliament want to work in that kind of atmosphere, not theatre," said Mr. Casson, who expressed appreciation for the support he received from MPs in all parties as the bill wound its way through the Commons in the past year.
The bill amends the Divorce Act to give a terminally or critically ill parent access to children in a broken marriage "as long as such access is consistent with the best interests of the child."
NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis called the passage of the bill "a rare moment."
Liberal MP Bonnie Brown said, "I think we all felt that if a person is actually dying and they have a last wish to see their own children, it should be allowed."
Ms. Glover has been pressing for a police board inquiry into the actions of the Lethbridge officers.
Comment