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In Ontario: Three Legal Parents

Parentally disadvantaged

By Arthur Weinreb

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

On January 2, the Ontario Court of Appeal handed down a decision declaring that a 5-year-old boy now has three legal parents.

The child's mother has been in a lesbian relationship since 1990 and decided to become impregnated by a male friend. The mother's partner began to worry that if anything happened to the mother, she, the partner, would have no parental rights towards the boy. The only alternative that she had would have been to adopt the child but adoption would mean that the non-custodial father would lose all legal rights to his son. The child's father had played an active role in his son's life and none of the parties wanted him to lose his rights. So the partner went to court for a declaration that she too was the "mother" of the child.

The lower court dismissed her application. While sympathetic to the lesbian partner's plight, the judge came up with the silly notion that judges are supposed to interpret the law and not legislate. Justice David Aston found that the relevant legislation, the Children's Law Reform Act (CLRA) did not speak about mothers and fathers or parents. Rather it spoke of "the" mother and "the" father. The justice interpreted the Act as meaning that children were limited to two parents.

The decision was reversed on appeal. The Court of Appeal found that the CLRA was outdated. Having come into force in the 1970s after a study by the Law Reform Commission of Ontario, the Act just didn't take today's realities into account (these realities being no doubt that when it comes to families, anything goes). The appellate court used their inherent jurisdiction of parens patriae, the right to stand in place of the parent and make decisions that are in the best interests of the child, to find that the natural mother's partner is also the mother of the child. The 5-year-old's birth certificate will be amended to show three parents; two mothers and a father.

On her blog Joanne's Journey (www.jojourn.blogspot.com), Joanne wrote about all of those children who have only two parents and are therefore "parentally disadvantaged". An excellent point. It's simply not fair that this child has three parents while all others in this country have to make do with one or two or in some cases, none. And we in Canada are nothing if not fair. Look at all the orphans that are running around Third World countries while this kid has a father and two mothers. It's no wonder that some of those out there want to destroy our way of life.

The child with three parents is bound to make all other children feel bad. On Christmas and his birthday and other holidays, this kid gets to get presents from three parents. Plus, while other mere mortals have a potential of four grandparents, this kid has six. IT'S NOT FAIR; IT'S UN-CANADIAN!

What is also unfair is if this boy wants something that a parent may balk at. While other children are forced to play one parent off against the other this kid has an extra parent, therefore increasing the odds that he will get what he wants by 33 per cent. These advantages are simply not acceptable in socialist societies like Cuba and Canada.

There is nothing in the Court of Appeal decision that would necessarily limit the number of parents that a child can have to three. Perhaps we should hold a contest to see which child can come up with the highest number of legal parents in a specified time period. The winner would get the trendy prize of having his or her own reality show called " I have a mother and a mother and a mother...". It's only a matter of time.

We have to wonder what will happen 40 or 50 years from now when the boy with three parents gets stuck looking after and supporting his aged and infirm extra mother.

Come to think of it, we know what will happen --he'll just head off to court.


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