510
edits
Changes
→What else needs to be done?
I don't know that these problems, some of which stem from the fundamental characteristics of the justice system itself, are ever going to be addressed. I have some ideas about what could help, but all of my ideas are highly contentious and many amount to ripping the system down to its foundations and starting over, with different principles, different presumptions and different values. I want to see a system that is focused on the short- and long-term wellbeing of children, that is built to minimize the impact of parental conflict on children, that provides the social and economic supports families in crisis need, that includes psychological as well as legal services, and that is fundamentally designed to support the future functioning of families living apart. I want a system in which court is the last resort and collaborative negotiation is the first. I want people to be able to solve their own problems without having to hire a lawyer if they don't want to hire a lawyer.
However, what I do know about change is that it is inevitable when it is supported by enough people. Think about cigarettes. Not all that long ago, it was acceptable to smoke in a bus shelter, at a movie theatre, or with your kids in the car and the windows rolled up. Yes, government regulations helped get the ball rolling, but what was really important was the change in social values. Nowadays, we wouldn't even think about smoking on an airplane. What was one once completely acceptable and commonplace has now become taboo. (Other examples of massive social change include our attitudes toward divorce, women in the workplace, and same-sex marriage.) If the justice system is going to change, it is going to change because enough people realize that business-as-usual hasn't worked for the last sixty years and that the status quo is not only unacceptable, it's harmful.
Write to your MLA and your MP; write to the federal Department of Justice and the provincial Ministry of Justice. Write letters to your local media; press for continuing coverage of justice system issues rather than the usual one-and-done article when something scandalous happens. Get on your local provincial court's family law committee. Run for election. Become a lawyer, a paralegal or a mediator. Start community groups and Facebook groups. Volunteer with local advocacy centres, and if there isn't one, create one. Start newsletters, listservs and email lists.