Hi Everyone,
Sorry about not blogging yesterday. Hopefully this week, I’ll get to writing, The Unvarnished Truth. If you didn’t already guess, I have other more pressing issues now, hence the title of this blog being, Media Attention Anyone? The reason for the title and this blog is that apparently, stories about child support, dead beat parents and people seeking justice are too common, thereby not newsworthy. I do and do not understand that. This is what I mean.
The first thing that I would like everyone to note for the rest of their lives is something I read today from a court case called, A. (J.) v A. (P.)1997. This is what Judge Fleury had to say, “To ignore this obligation to rectify a situation which should not have existed in the first place would be tantamount to sending an invitation to all delinquent spouses to ignore their legal and moral obligations to their children in the hope that too much time will elapse between their dereliction of duties and the actual trial.”
The above statement revolves around a parent who did not pay the child support that they were supposed to and how the court made them pay what they owed because they had a legal and moral obligation to. That was in 1997 when the rules about child support were slack. A lot has changed since then.
For anyone who doesn’t already know, in July 2006, Justice Bastarche created the term, blameworthy conduct which basically means that if a payor parent profits from not paying proper support, they too should be made to pay what they owe. Now just because someone is or does pay child support according to their court order, does not mean they are not a dead beat parent. This is especially true, if they are actively and knowingly participating in blameworthy conduct. My daughter’s father is a PRIME EXAMPLE of that and I have more evidence of it. This is exactly what I am working on.
After I tried a variety of media outlets, who told me that this story is too common, I began thinking which just pissed me off! I thought, “Really? Dead beat parents, people seeking justice, not being on the welfare system may be common but so are a lot of other things! Do people in the media say to themselves, ‘The week started on Sunday and we’ve already had 3 murders and 6 robberies and it’s only Wednesday. Every week for the last several years it’s been the same thing, murder, robberies. You know what, let’s not bore our readers with the doom and gloom of the murders and the robberies AGAIN and report on something else instead.’” But wait a minute, this is the same thing with a twist that is.
You see, every time any payor parent decides not to pay what they are legally bound to, they are according to the courts, ROBBING their one or more children of not only their legal rights, opportunities and self-esteem, they are also MURDERING their souls! Okay, the courts may not say that payor parents are murdering their child’s soul when they provide proper child support, but it’s true. That is exactly what payor parents do when they decide, because it is a decision, to put their needs and wants above the needs and wants of their one or more children. For years, child support has been a LEGAL right of the child and the courts also see child support as a moral and ethical issue.
So how does my situation differ from other people trying to get child support? There are a few ways. The MOST SIGNIFICANT is the fact that even though a judge dismissed my case, I told duty counsel to ask the judge to allow me to literally and figuratively stand up for myself by having the judge hear me speak for 15 minutes and that my speech changed her mind on Tuesday July 30, 2013.
Now I don’t know how many times a day, month or year someone stands up for themselves in court and changes a judges’ mind from dismissing their case to having the judge grant them a hearing date. Do you? I’m guessing, on an annual basis the number is pretty small maybe even ZERO!
And JUST how many people, like me, go into court expecting a hearing only to be told, there is a conflict of interest and the ONLY other judge that day may not have time to hear their case, then have the judge dismiss their case, to being allowed to speak for 15 minutes and point out VERY SPECIFIC EVIDENCE that the judge they are now speaking before made not only one but SEVERAL HUGE MISTAKES regarding a court order that, in my opinion, their (un)educated decision allowed the payor parent to not only profit at the expense of his only child which then began a series of his blameworthy conduct but because of that one (un)educated decision, also had his only child living at or slightly above poverty because the judge, in my opinion, didn’t do her job! Seriously what are odds? My belief is a million to one! But, that’s what happened!
On February 15, 1996, my daughter’s father wanted to reduce the child support he was paying, filed all the paperwork, got a hearing date, went to court THAT DAY, (because there have been at least three other occasions when he couldn’t be bothered) and the judge on Friday May 17, 1996 who was LEGALLY BOUND to fully review all of his questionable financial information before she SLASHED the child support from $306.30 per month to $150 per month, in my opinion, just didn’t do her JOB! Maybe she was hungry, had to pee, and was just tired or simply not qualified to hear a family law case! (More on that in another blog which will be called, Am I Cynical?)
To me the two above points are pretty significant and speak volumes as to how my story is separate from a lot of other people in my situation! The other ways my situation is different from others is that even though I refused to go on the welfare system by remaining as a member of the working poor, I also have a highly productive taxpaying daughter who has achieved her success by not going to college or university.
Where my story is similar to others are the following. Due to my daughter’s father’s blameworthy conduct, I have had to deplete my assets, including my daughter’s RESP, several times over to provide her with the most basic of needs. I also TRUSTED the COURTS to, as the Family Law Act states, “put the needs of the child first,” thereby protecting my daughter and myself from any wrong doing, but was miserably disappointed by, in my opinion, their consistent lack of professionalism.
Because of the above, I have also been in what is called, “a black-hole of litigation” trying to rectify not only, in my opinion, the judge’s (un)educated decision on Friday May 17, 1996, but I have also tried several times via the courts to have my daughter’s father provide FULL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE from a court order that he, himself initiated and has always been ordered to provide, in order to establish his income which would then increase and perhaps “correct” the judges’, in my opinion, error of law, with NO AVAIL even though I have had two legal aid lawyers and the assistance of duty counsel for years! Another commonality that I share with many other people in my situation is that fact that in my quest for justice, I have, to some extent, isolated/alienated myself, by burying my nose in cases similar to mine. My situation, just as many others, is messy that is for sure, but I am of the belief that the courts have allowed my case and many others to be! That by the way, costs every taxpayer in Ontario!
So do I believe that the media should report my story? ABSOLUTELY!!! Sure my story and the story of many other people seeking child support and justice are common BUT could someone please tell me EXACTLY how we as a society are going to put a stop to this if no one chooses to discuss it? Because in my mind, the more that we, as a society, ignore what is happening to ourselves, our families, our neighbours, and our countries’ citizens the longer and worse everything, including this, will get. Is that what we want?
Do we, as a society want to allow dead beat parents to financially, emotionally and physiologically oppress their children because they can’t get their own emotions in check? Have we, as a society forgotten that our children, biological or not, are OUR future taxpayers and decision makers? Seriously, think about that. While you are at it, think about this too. If we allow dead beat parents to continue with their negative self-serving behaviour we, just as the second paragraph of this blog states, would be “sending an invitation to all delinquent spouses to ignore their legal and moral obligations to their children in the hope that too much time will elapse between their dereliction of duties and the actual trial,” which would be providing our children with examples of negative behaviour that, if not corrected, may manifest themselves into a future that we as citizens of a first world country may not be able to correct for generations to come. That is the PRIMARY reason that I strongly believe that stories like mine and countless others should be in the media ALL THE TIME. The secondary reason is this.
In the last few months I have spoken with A LOT of people who, because of their lives have NO IDEA that struggling single parents have been wronged by the courts that they TRUSTED to protect them and their children. Those same people also had NO IDEA that dead beat parents will go to great lengths to ROB their children of their legal rights. The media reports on murders and robberies to educate people of what is taking place and informs people to, “lock their doors,” or “don’t walk alone at night,” etc. So now my question is this. If stories like mine are not in the media, than how EXACTLY are we to educate other fellow citizens, who through no fault of their own, are not subjected to circumstances that affect so many of their friends, neighbours and other fellow citizens? Seriously, I want to know.
Another thing I would like to know is when, my daughter’s father decided to NOT USE his child support payments as a deduction on his tax return to decrease his taxable income? It wasn’t in 1997 when he used the child support to decrease his taxable income by $1,300, or in 1998 when he used the child support to decrease his taxable income by $1,628 or in 1999, when again he used the child support to decrease his taxable income by $1,560 because I am looking at those income tax summaries, you know the ones the courts had to PRY out of tightly closed financial hands!
For anyone who doesn’t know why I mentioned the above, this is why. You see in May 1997, the Federal Child Support Guidelines, which have since been updated, but still include that child support was no longer to be taxable to the recipient parent and no longer deductable to the paying parent. Since I know for a fact, that my daughter’s father did use the child support as a deduction, from the records that I have, on his 1997, 1998 and 1999 tax returns, he, via his tax deductions, that I know of has defrauded the government of $4,488 taxable dollars. That in turn, decreased the taxes he paid for the above years. You see why I believe my daughter’s father is a POSTER CHILD for Dead Beat Parents? Exactly!
If this blog doesn’t get the media attention that I firmly believe that it deserves, than at least I have informed any and all readers of my and countless other stories, that in my opinion, are growing at an exponential rate because some people think that stories of this nature are too common.
Here are some links to past blogs that relate to this blog.
Tuesday July 30, 2013 http://arebelsrant.com/tuesday-july-30-2013/
What I Said on Tuesday July 30, 2013 http://arebelsrant.com/what-i-said-on-tuesday-july-30-2013/
Is the News Nauseating? http://arebelsrant.com/is-the-news-nauseating/
If Everyone Just Did What They Were Supposed To! http://arebelsrant.com/if-everyone-just-did-what-they-were-supposed-to/
Not Accepting The… http://arebelsrant.com/not-accepting-the/
Friday May 17, 1996 http://arebelsrant.com/friday-may-17-1996/
Legal Aid—Ontario http://arebelsrant.com/legal-aid-ontario/
A Single Parent’s Quest for Justice—The Condensed Version http://arebelsrant.com/a-single-parents-quest-for-justice-the-condensed-version/
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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