Liberals propose overhaul of Divorce Act, intending to put children 1st

The Liberal government is overhauling Canada's federal divorce laws to ensure the best interests of the children are the top priority in all decisions.

Bill C-78, which was tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, also takes steps to address family violence and child poverty in the first major revamp in more than 20 years.

There are also changes to adopt more neutral terminology, dropping current terms like "custody" and "access" in favour of "parenting orders" and "parenting time." The changes aim to end an adversarial "winner" and a "loser" approach to decisions about parenting arrangements, according to background material from the Justice Department.

Under the proposed changes, a court must consider a specific set of factors when making decisions to ensure they are made in the best interests of the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety and wellbeing.

Other factors include the nature and strength of the child's relationship to parents, grandparents and other important people in their life, the child's linguistic, cultural and spiritual heritage, including Indigenous heritage, as well as the child's own views and preferences.

About two million children have parents who are separated or divorced.

Other proposed amendments include:

• A new requirement for a parent to provide proper notification of relocation, and new guidelines to help courts decide if it is in the child's best interests and should be allowed. The new framework will provide additional clarification for parents, lawyers and courts to limit litigation.
• Courts would have to take family violence into account in decisions, assessing the severity and impact of the violence and how it could affect future parenting arrangements.
• More tools to establish and enforce child support. The government would, in certain cases, be able to release tax information to help ensure a child support amount is accurate. Only certain people like a judge or enforcement program would be allowed access in order to protect privacy rights. 
• Making the family justice system more accessible and efficient by reducing the need for families to go to court, avoiding the need for expensive court costs.