{"id":12777,"date":"2020-08-12T10:16:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T14:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?p=12777"},"modified":"2020-11-12T13:37:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T18:37:07","slug":"leaf-west-coast-leaf-submit-arguments-to-the-supreme-court-to-ensure-that-child-support-orders-centre-women-and-childrens-substantive-equality","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-west-coast-leaf-submit-arguments-to-the-supreme-court-to-ensure-that-child-support-orders-centre-women-and-childrens-substantive-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF & West Coast LEAF\u00a0submit\u00a0arguments to the Supreme Court\u00a0to ensure that child support orders\u00a0centre\u00a0women and children\u2019s substantive equality\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On <\/span>August 10<\/span>, 2020, LEAF and <\/span>West Coast LEAF<\/span><\/a> <\/span>filed written arguments<\/span>, <\/span>also called a<\/span> factum,<\/span> <\/span>in the case of <\/span>Colucci v. Colucci <\/span><\/i>at<\/span> the Supreme Court of Canad<\/span>a<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our factum, <\/span>LEAF and West Coast LEAF, represented by Jennifer Klinck and Joshua Sealy-Harrington (Power Law), <\/span>propose<\/span> <\/span>a <\/span>legal framework for child support orders that takes as its starting point the reality that unpaid child support contributes to the feminization of poverty.<\/span> <\/span>The feminization of poverty is a term <\/span>for<\/span> <\/span>the economic disadvantages<\/span> <\/span>faced by women that<\/span> are<\/span> both the result of and are<\/span> perpetuated by systemic discrimination.<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By centering women and children\u2019s substantive equality rights, the framework<\/span> that we propose<\/span> would ensure that judges\u2019 child support orders<\/span> are fair<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case background<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This case, on appeal from Ontario, is about a father who<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>over <\/span>16 years<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>chronicall<\/span>y<\/span> underpaid child support to a mother, resulting in a debt of over <\/span>$170,000. During that time, the father failed to disclose his income, rarely made voluntary support payments, and absconded twice without notice to his family or the Family Responsibility Office overseeing his support\u2014first to the United States, and then to Italy. After his children no longer qualified for ongoing support because they were grown, the father applied to substantially rescind his debt. The Superior Court of Justice granted the father a retroactive reduction in child support arrears, reducing his debt to $41,642.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/span>Court of Appeal for Ontario<\/span><\/a> overturned this decision for failing to apply a 2006 Supreme Court decision, <\/span>DBS v. SRG<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which involved retroactive <\/span>increases<\/span> of child support obligations. The Court of Appeal for Ontario decided that <\/span>DBS <\/span><\/i>should apply to applications<\/span> like the one that Mr. Colucci made<\/span> as well<\/span>, which was an application<\/span> for <\/span>a <\/span>retroactive <\/span>decrease<\/span> of child support obligations<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court of Canada will have the last word on whether this <\/span>decision<\/span> <\/span>by the Court of Appeal for Ontario was correct<\/span>. In <\/span>doing so<\/span>, it will decide the factors that should be taken into account when <\/span>a judge is deciding whether to retroactively reduce, or retroactively increase, the child support that someone owes<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF & West Coast LEAF\u2019s <\/span><\/b>argument<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

LEAF <\/span>and<\/span> West Coast LEAF have intervened in this case to provide the Supreme Court with an accura<\/span>te picture of how child support i<\/span>s paid (or not paid)<\/span> across Canada<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>T<\/span>he reality is that child support is dramatically u<\/span>nderpaid and overwhelmingly gendered<\/span>. <\/span>The economic destinies of women and children are intertwined<\/span>,<\/span> as most children continue to live with their mothers. <\/span>In the vast majority of cases, it is the father who is supposed to pay child support to the mother, and it is the father who fails to do so<\/span>. <\/span>Our intervention also highlights<\/span> the<\/span> <\/span>interconnectedness of <\/span>child support and intimate partner violence<\/span>; i<\/span>n abusive relationships, financial <\/span>abuse <\/span>and threats are often present<\/span>. <\/span>Given all this<\/span>, every unpaid child support instalment both contributes to women\u2019s socioeconomic inequality and deepens child poverty.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/span>Court decisions do not take place in a vacuum<\/span>,\u201d says Megan Stephens, Executive Director and General Counsel of LEAF. \u201c<\/span>Court<\/span>s need to understand the <\/span>realities <\/span>of child support <\/span>underpayment <\/span>to better appreciate how <\/span>vary<\/span>ing<\/span> <\/span>someone\u2019s <\/span>outstanding <\/span>child support debt <\/span>may<\/span> further exacerbate women<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> and children\u2019s economic marginalization.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>

\u201c<\/span>Unpaid child support has<\/span> a direct impact on the economic disadvantages faced by women, disadvantages that are perpetuated by structural and systemic discrimination<\/span>,\u201d says <\/span>Kate Feeney, Director of Litigation at West Coast LEAF.<\/span>  <\/span>\u201c<\/span>This<\/span> continues <\/span>to<\/span> contribute to<\/span> <\/span>the <\/span>feminization of poverty<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

LEAF and West Coast LEAF have proposed a simple framework to the Court that will allow <\/span>judges<\/span> to take women and children\u2019s substantive equality into account each time <\/span>they are asked to <\/span>retroactively <\/span>modify a child support order. We argu<\/span>e that in addition to being fair and socially just, taking women and children\u2019s substantive equality into ac<\/span>count <\/span>is <\/span>required to <\/span>fulfill the objective of the child support regime \u2013 providing for children\u2019s welfare.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read LEAF <\/span>and<\/span> West Coast LEAF\u2019s factum <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case committee <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

LEAF\u2019s interventions are guided, informed and supported by a case committee composed of academics and practitioners with expertise in the relevant issues<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>W<\/span>e are<\/span> very<\/span> grateful to the <\/span>Colucci <\/span><\/i>case committee members<\/span> (in alphabetical order): Natasha Bakht (University of Ottawa); Vicky Law (Rise Women\u2019s Legal Centre); and Deepa Mattoo and Tamar <\/span>Witelson<\/span> (Barbra <\/span>Schlifer<\/span> Commemorative Clinic).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For<\/span> more<\/span> background and judicial history of the case, see our earlier <\/span>announcement<\/span><\/a> when LEAF <\/span>and<\/span> West Coast LEAF applied for leave to intervene, as well as our <\/span>announcement<\/span> when the Supreme Court granted leave to intervene.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF):<\/span> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) works to advance the substantive equality rights of women and girls through litigation, law reform, and public education. Since 1985, LEAF has intervened in landmark cases that have advanced equality in Canada\u2014helping to prevent violence, eliminate discrimination in the workplace, provide better maternity benefits, ensure a right to pay equity, and allow access to reproductive freedoms.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About West Coast LEAF: <\/span> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

West Coast LEAF is the first and only organization in BC dedicated to using the law as a strategy to work towards an equal and just society for all women and people who experience gender-based discrimination. Since its founding in 1985, West Coast LEAF has helped bring about some of Canada\u2019s most important feminist victories for reproductive rights, workplace standards, fairness in family law, legal protections from sexual harassment, and more.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For media inquiries, contact:<\/span> <\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Klinck, Partner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Power Law<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T: 604-239-0984<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E: jklinck@powerlaw.ca<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cee Strauss, Staff Lawyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E: c.strauss@leaf.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[182,186,25,198,17,96,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12777","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-children","category-equality-law","category-featured","category-gender-discrimination","category-media-releases","category-socio-economic-rights-cases","category-whats-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLEAF & West Coast LEAF\u00a0submit\u00a0arguments to the Supreme Court\u00a0to ensure that child support orders\u00a0centre\u00a0women and children\u2019s substantive equality\u00a0 - LEAF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-west-coast-leaf-submit-arguments-to-the-supreme-court-to-ensure-that-child-support-orders-centre-women-and-childrens-substantive-equality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEAF & West Coast LEAF\u00a0submit\u00a0arguments to the Supreme Court\u00a0to ensure that child support orders\u00a0centre\u00a0women and children\u2019s substantive equality\u00a0 - LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 10, 2020, LEAF and West Coast LEAF filed written arguments, also called a factum, in the case of Colucci v. 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