Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the feedback received from numerous individuals during the preparation of this paper. Some of our reviewers did not want to have their contributions acknowledged due to their position in the courts or provincial government ministries. The reviews were thorough and exhaustive, but we could not do justice to all the comments without doubling the paper in size and defeating our more limited purpose. Most importantly, the final paper reflects the views of the authors and may not reflect the views of the reviewers.
We would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their insights and comments as well as links to additional reference materials.
- Dominque Bernier, Ph.D., LL.B., Professeure, Département des sciences juridiques, Université du Québec, Montréal, Québec
- Pam Cross, B.A., LL.B., Consultant, Feminist Lawyer, Legal Director of Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre, Durham Region, Ontario
- Shelley Hounsell-Gray, K.C., Blackburn Law, Beford, Nova Scotia
- Margaret Jackson, Ph.D., Director of the FREDA Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, Professor Emerita, School of Criminology, and past Director of the Institute for Studies in Criminal Justice Policy at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
- Robynne Kazina, M.S.W., J.D., Partner, Taylor McCaffrey LLP, Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Simon Lapierre, Ph.D., Professeur titulaire, École de service social, Université d’Ottawa - Directeur, Reflets : revue d’intervention sociale et communautaire - membre, Collectif de recherche FemAnVi., Ottawa, Ontario
- Deepa Mattoo, M.B.A., LL.B., Executive Director, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Toronto, Ontario
- Madam Justice Lore Mirwaldt, Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba (Family Division)
- Christina Ninham, LL.B., Board Director, Indigenous & Family Lawyer from Oneida Nation of the Thames, Southwold, Ontario
- Karla O’Regan, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Chair, Criminology & Criminal Justice, St. Thomas University, New Brunswick
Department of Justice staff, Robin Trombley Counsel, Family and Children’s Law Team, Family Law and Youth Justice Policy Section and Cherami Wichmann, Senior Research Officer, Research and Statistics Division provided very helpful comments on several drafts of the paper including keeping us focused on a national perspective.
Most of all, we are indebted to the families we have worked with over the years. In particular, the plight of abuse victims and their children have educated us on the shortcomings of our existing systems to deal consistently and effectively with the issue of family violence in the context of parenting disputes. Further, we wish to acknowledge the valued input of judges, lawyers and family justice professionals who have increased our knowledge and understanding and helped us to formulate the frameworks presented in this paper.
Funding of this project by the Federal Government is gratefully acknowledged.
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