This article appeared in the local paper today and shows another
example of how men are treated differently than women in child-care
cases.
                 Dad denied custody of kids
Toronto(CP) -- A man whose children were taken away from him because 
he didn't cry enough when his wife died and didn't break the news "properly"
to his children, has had his custody fight adjourned because of legal 
technicalities. 
    The man has been trying to regain custody of his two children, whom he
he hasn't seen in more than a year, after a family court judge ruled he 
appeared not to be coping with his wife's death and was not strong enough
to parent his children.
    The Children's Aid Society agrees the children, now aged eight and 
eleven, show no signs of emotional or physical abuse.
    And the judge who awarded 6 month care to the Children's Aid Society,
says the only evidence against the 46 year-old man, whom the law says
can't be identified, didn't tell his children their mother committed suicide
in October 1993. 
    The transcript, however, shows he did.
His lawyer, Stan Ehrlich, urged Judge "Gertrude Speigel" on Monday to 
overturn the original judgement.
    But procedural problems and Speigel's assertion that Ehrlich "bungled" 
 the prepartion of the appeal forced an adjournment after two hours of legal
 wrangling. No new date has been set.
    The nightmanre began with a tragic error that led to his wife's suicide
 and was compounded by the subsequent handling of the case.
    "I still don't know where my wife's body is", said the man.
     The Children's Aid Society wants the current custody order extended 
past April 20. Last spring the Society ordered the man to undergo a
psychiatric evaluation but he refused saying that it had no cause to ask
for one.
Questions...
Would this fiasco have occured if the surviving parent had been a woman?
How does a court determine if a man cries enough? Olympic style, with a
scoring based on volume of tears and artistic merit?
Or do they have a tear-alyser...?
Why is it that a person dealing with the virtually unlimited powers of the
Childrens Aid Society and their pet court, Family Court, have to prove
that they are a fit parent.. should it not be that the CAS has to prove its
case? Why is there no presumption of innocence?
lazarusl@vaxxine.com
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