The fact that Bill 16, Family Law Act has been passed is a sign that the traditional system needed reform. The new act addresses some of the fundamental problems in the system and we look optimistically to the impact it has on children and families in general. I do not think anyone can argue or dispute the massive amount of destruction to assets and children that has occurred in our adversarial system. The courts have been needlessly backlogged with mindless arguments and position bargaining about issues that simply do not belong in front of our Judges.
Couples using our expensive courtroom resources to fight their personal battles has to come to an end. This is a step in the right direction. The new Act steers couples towards mediation, which is obviously music to Fairway Divorce Solutions’ ears but more importantly it is clearly in the best interest of children and their parents and it will also save a ton of wasted taxpayers money at the same time. The unfortunate reality of our system is that those who really need a Judges intervention often do not get heard “in time”. We do not need to look much past our front pages of the newspaper to read of the tragedy of families that were “lost” in our system.
I personally admire BC’s attorney general for the initiative and I look forward to other provinces getting on board. If we can save one child from the tragic outcome created because of our system and if we can start to empower children of divorce to move through their parents divorce without emotional harm – then we can start to change the way divorce happens. The new Act focuses primarily on the well being of the children and I am hopeful that this agenda will create greater accountability within the system as it is long overdue. Press Release
Categories: 
“can start to empower children of divorce”..joke…married couples in BC do not need to get divorced before taking on new legal common law spouses with identical marital rights and obligations. That’s what the new legislation does.
Mediation helps the former partners to develop communication lines that are necessary for reaching a fair and well-reasoned agreement. BC is fortunate to have mediators like yourself and GISLIG Divorce and Family Law Mediation to provide the public with good quality mediation services.
I agree that court is costly and ultimately our children pay the price. However, for some adversarial couples mediation will not work. I still believe going to court is everyone’s right. Appealing that decision should have restrictions though, to avert revenge appeals and extraordinary costs to broken families. Mediation is the answer for couples who are on decent terms and cooperative with one another. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we can do without the courts altogether. There is too much acrimony between divorcing couples to expect divorce trials in the courts to be eradicated. My humble opinion.