Protecting Children Through Effective Family Dispute Resolution Parenting Plan

WHEREAS under the current Family Law model no one is charged is advocating for the rights and interests of children, and that research shows that children suffer emotional, psychological and spiritual harm from parental conflict; AND WHEREAS there is no requirement for a parental plan that describes the division of parental responsibilities before parents access the court system; AND WHEREAS the court system is expensive, adversarial, escalates conflict and hostility between the parents and can take many months to obtain a court date: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province develop policies and regulations that require that parents of underage children must develop, through mutual agreement or mediation, a prescribed parenting plan that includes division of parental responsibilities, before the parents may apply to court for a parenting order; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Province create an agency similar to the Civil Dispute Tribunal that would be structured to encourage parents to use a broad range of non-litigation based dispute resolution tools, including mediation delivered online, via video-conferencing or in person to help parents resolve disputes as early as possible.