Re: Breaking up is hard to do (Our View, March 22)
As earlier noted, the governing B.C. Liberals forgot the advice of a former Liberal Prime Minister that “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
If that PM’s son Justin Trudeau inherited any politically astute genes, our governing provincial party should have sought his advice in drafting the new B.C. Family Law Act.
Any such federal level input could only have improved the present Orwellian legislation with which we are now saddled.
It will shock more than a few B.C. couples to learn that if they’ve been in common-law relationships for two or more years – thanks to the new and obviously misnamed Family Law Act – they’re now considered equivalent to being legally married. Now lacking a multi-year opt-in option for such couples, this retroactive law is unacceptable.
The reported child protection aspects of the Act should be supported, but without changes the current Act will reduce social stability.
Many that have “roommates with privileges” will be checking calendars to verify co-habitation dates. Some will be ending their conjugal relationships thereby confirming a new normal shorter time-frame for sequential monogamy in B.C.
There’s always hope that after our May provincial election, the government will amend the Family Law Act to deal with family issues only.
A better bet is that there will be legal challenges based on the above-noted retroactive issue, and that there’ll be a court ruling requiring government to correct the currently ill-considered Act.
Let’s close the bedroom door to government busybodies.
Ron Johnson
Saanich
