Cosgrove is "Toast" as far as being a judge but he gets a Gold Plated Pension

Update April 3/09. Cosgrove has resigned. There is some justice after all but not much yet.

Now let us see if Parliament's family jewels are still in place to finish the process or as was the only other case in Canadian history he will resign. Given he is disgraced enough will he stay the course and wait to be the first Canadian Judge in history to be fired. It doesn't seem likely. Hopefully Cosgrove is the leading edge of greater removals for incompetence and corruption.

Cosgrove and many other Superior Court Judges perform a form of gender apartheid on Fathers with social engineering like never before seen. This has been going on for almost 2 generations of children. Here is how it works. Under the no fault system a woman can lie, cheat, steal, commit criminal acts and blame the husband. Two thirds or more of divorces are initiated by the female. She will obtain, in almost guaranteed fashion, complete legal and physical custody of the children unless she is a drug addict with a needle in the arm riding on the back of a motorcycle at her court appearance. Did you read about the mom who fed her toddler cocaine for almost 2 years under the radar of family court judges. The child has permanent brain damage and is now in the custody of the dad.

We see the results everyday in the newspaper. Here are some samples from Dr. Edward Kruk's research. "Some 85 per cent of youth in prison are fatherless; 71 per cent of high school dropouts grew up without fathers, as did 90 per cent of runaway children. Fatherless youth are also more prone to depression, suicide, delinquency, promiscuity, drug abuse, behavioural problems and teen pregnancy, warns the 84-page report, a compilation of dozens of studies around divorce and custody, including some of his own research over the past 20 years."

The female will get child support at a rate that will cause great financial hardship to the dad. Even if he loses his job the divorce industry acolytes at the provincial child support collection agencies will persecute him. Did you know the worst deadbeats proportionately are those rare females who don't get custody. Interesting isn't it. The ratio of custody to females is 9-1 whether contested or not. In uncontested cases the dad's lawyer holds the metaphorical gun to his head and says, no judge will give you any form of physical custody, that's the status quo. Cut your losses and take this deal. You can save your pension by giving her the house. I understand Judge Harvey Brownstone may be breaking the mold. Not enough information is available to corroborate it but anecdotal information shows he even throws the mom in jail for violation of custody orders. Say What? Not only that she lost custody. Her remarks on his book publishers website were removed because of the "unmotherly" prose and expletives she used.

The female will have at her disposal in Ontario $208,000.000.00 of specific earmarked women's benefits courtesy of Ontario tax payers, not including legal aid. This does not include federal dollars. She can try and hide her income and assets stored elsewhere and legal aid will be sympathetic. They will take a lien on the family home even if it is in dad's name solely because of your ex's criminal past. She will receive child benefits from both levels of government, she may get alimony and she may get ownership of the family home if the mans pension is on the line. All of this can happen even if the mom has been a net drain on the family income through her criminal activity. Just think of a family who has a business operated by the mom and the dad provides a steady stable income to subsidize it and pay off the mortgage of the family home. What if the female slips money from the business under the table to avoid taxes while it is losing money. She is playing the dad to subsidize her and get tax free income. Don't get me started on her taking a run to the local DV shelter to get a "leg up." These are just some of the permutations in our justice system - oh sorry - not justice at all. Lets call it what it is Family Law AKA FLAW.

The legal system is in great disrepute. Its hard to say how much more men are willing to take. Over 3,000 men commit suicide each year across Canada. If only 400 of those, a conservative number, were directly related to FLAW it would be an epidemic greater than SARS but it flies under everyone's radar. How many victims of FLAW are those we read about having just killed family members? Did they pass the breaking point thanks to judges like Cosgrove who will now get a gold plated pension of $170,000.00 dollars a year for incompetence and corruption. Go figure. If a visible minority were treated the way men are in family court there would be outrage in our liberal media.

I think it important to note that Judges, lawyers, mental health workers, child protection workers, legal aid in Ontario and in other provinces, child protection agencies, child support collection agencies , welfare workers all play a role in the current dysfunctional system of FLAW. Each add to the burden children face given Dr. Kruk's research as noted. When Parental Alienation is brought into play they then become complicit in child abuse. What kind of system do we have when child protection agencies enable emotional abuse of children by ignoring Parental Alienation. Criminal perhaps? Hyperbole is not on my radar today but examination of Child Protection Services mandates are in order when they overlook this area.

What do do about it is the functional question. Firstly we need a rebuttal presumption of equal shared parenting based on the Belgium model with study of the Australian model. See my article previously on what is going on in Belgium.

When one member of a family decides they want a divorce the first step is compulsory family counselling by all family members. No contest. The partner not wishing to cooperate automatically loses custody. If DV is evident a more specialized type of counselling should occur to see if it can be resolved. Clear objectives are required for this counselling ranging from reconciliation to cooperative co-parenting.

Failing reconciliation mediation at taxpayers expense is in order.

After this referral to lawyers. Keep in mind this is the first time lawyers are brought into the dispute.

If the couple cannot afford lawyers and have to self-represent a step by step guide is required to take the matter to court and conduct the trial.

The end result will be less divorce, less financial ruin, less wealth transfer from children's legacies to lawyers, fewer bureaucrats but most importantly better adjusted children the true victims of divorce. In the Belgium model the child support collection agencies went on to do other things and not all, if any, lost their jobs.

Jane Major, Phd, the author of "Breakthrough Parenting", has developed a template in California far more detailed that tries a new paradigm in not dissimilar fashion to my bear bones approach here. She presented it at the Parental Alienation Symposium held in Toronto March 27-29/09 an excellent forum bring many mental health care pioneers and professionals, health care workers, legal people and target parents.
Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions not those of Fathers-4-Justice Canada. Mike Murphy