Volume 19, Number 1, 2002
Articles
- Citizen, Worker, Mother: Canadian Women’s Claims to Parental Leave and Childcare - Lene Madsen
Recently passed Employment Insurance Act amendments, which extended parental leave entitlements to 35 weeks, were promoted as offering Canadian parents the "choice" to stay at home with their young children. This article argues that in the absence of affordable, quality childcare, such "choice" may well be illusory. The article contends that the parental leave amendments, coupled with the continued absence of affordable, quality childcare may be regarded as part of the gendered process of citizenship redefinition, reflecting a contraction of entitlements and a retreat by the state from social provision; and that recent amendments to the Employment Insurance Act, may, in the absence of childcare, undermine women's efforts to achieve parity in the paid labour force and equality more generally.
- The Rise and Rise of Shared Parenting Laws: A Critical Reflection - Helen Rhoades
This article examines the emergence of shared parenting laws (and proposals for such laws) in various countries during the past decade, and the meaning of these reforms for the practices and consumers of the family law system. Drawing on recent empirical studies conducted in Australia, where shared parenting reforms have been in place since 1996, the discussion focuses on the ways in which the statutory changes in that country have operated to compromise the protective needs of women and children who leave a violent relationship. The article includes an analysis of the reasons for this this unintended outcome, and suggests the need for careful consideration in the formulation of any similar reform of Canada's Divorce Act.
- Waiting in a New Line at City Hall: Registered Partnerships as an Option for Relationship Recognition Reform in Canada - Nicole LaViolette
With the establishment in Nova Scotia and Québec of the very first Canadian partnership registration schemes, debates about the value of this alternative recognition model are likely to multiply and gain in relevance in Canada. In this article the author examines whether registered partnership models should be established in Canada to permit adults in close personal relationships to formally undertake mutual obligations. The author argues that the most divisive political and social debates arise when registered partnership schemes are pitted against the issue of same-sex marriage. Policy discussions on registered partnerships will continue to be contentious and unproductive if the ban on same-sex marriage remains in place. If this obstacle is removed, one specific type of registered partnerships scheme, classified by the author as the "Blank State Plus" model, becomes an interesting alternative form of state relationship recognition, particularly for individuals who reject marriage or who are not in a conjugal relationship but who nevertheless wish to undertake mutual obligations.
Current Research
- Enhancing the Child's Point of View in Custody and Access Cases in Québec: Preliminary Results of a Study Conducted in Québec - Renée Joyal & Anne Quéniart
Allan Falconer Memorial Student Essay Contest Winner
- "The Spoilt Darling of the Law": Women and Canadian Child Custody Law in the Postwar Period (1945 - 1960) - Karina Winton