playdate

Court Overrules Father's Punishment

Last week, a Quebec Superior Court Judge overruled a father's punishment for his daughter.  After what the father claimed were repeated misuses of the internet, he finally made the decision to deny his permission for her to attend her year-end school trip.  The child then left the home, choosing to live with her mother instead (the parents are divorced), who granted her request to take the trip.  However, the school refused to allow her without both parents' consent, so the girl took her father to court.

White Supremacist Loses Then Regains Children

Early last week, a story came out of Manitoba that two children were seized by authorities because their father was a neo-Nazi.  From the story, the girl, 7, was sent to school with Nazi and white supremacist symbols and propaganda written on her arms and legs.  This triggered a call to Child and Family Services (CFS), who took custody of the boy, 2, and his sister.  A couple of days later, it was reported that the woman would regain custody because she had separated from the father.  In the second story, it was also explained that the children were not removed solely based on the neo-Nazi behaviour of the father, but that the girl had missed 39 days of school because "her parents sleep in and don't want to get her ready or take her".

Everywhere I Turn

Usually, I take one news item, link to it, give a brief rundown of the story, and then get into my own thoughts on the piece.  This week isn't the usual.

When I started looking at the papers this week (I always try and grab a recent story to work from), specifically the Toronto Star, I felt bombarded by sexual predators.  The cover story for the online version yesterday was all about the Thai sex trial featuring a Canadian teacher.  In the local news section, there was a piece about a youth charged with child pornography and if that wasn't enough, a driving instructor charged with sexual assault.  Everywhere I turned there were disgusting people doing despicable things to kids; to kids who were not much older than my kid in some cases.

China's One Child Policy Leaves Families Childless Forever

Whenever I read about family-related news items from China, my mind always drifts to the one child policy that the government enforces to maintain some control over population growth.  With over one billion people in a land mass of fixed size with fixed natural resources, population maintenance is critical for the Chinese government.  However, there are often accusations of preferential treatment for the more affluent, leading to a question of how strictly this rule is applied.  Now, the cold reality of the one child policy has come to light, as many families have lost their only child in the recent earthquake, and, being past childbearing years, will have no more.

Province Set To Collect Race Data

The Ontario education ministry has put out a research contract for bid. In this contract, the ministry is investigating means of collecting student data about race and ethnicity at both the elementary and secondary levels "for education purposes". The project description also states that any collection methods must obey privacy laws and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Provincial privacy laws define ethnic and racial details as personal information, requiring authorization and detailed explanation of reasons for collection as well as proper protection.

Manipulating Earth Day

Today is Earth Day, supposedly a day for increased awareness of environmental issues and efforts to help our planet.  The Ontario government has gotten in on the act as well, announcing a plan to veto the ban on outdoor clotheslines, as well as pass legislation to ban all pesticides.  The second item was a campaign promise from last fall, begging the question, if they could make good on their family day promise in February, why not the pesticide ban as well?  Why did it have to become such an obvious ploy for Earth Day?

The Working Poor

A recent article from The Toronto Star's Parent Central reports that the number of Ontario children living in poverty is on the rise, despite the province's growing economy and low rate of unemployment, according to the advocacy group Ontario Campaign 2000. Interestingly, 70% of those children (link is to a PDF chart) have at least one parent working.

Rob Ford's Arrest

At 9:30am on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, Toronto City Councilor Rob Ford was arrested for assault.  Although the complainant has not been officially named, the Toronto Star cites a "police source" that says it was Ford's wife, Renata.  Councilor Ford has since been released from police custody and is scheduled to appear in court April 28, 2008.

RESP Tax Benefits

Last week, the House of Commons approved a private member's bill that would provide tax breaks for RESP contributions despite a lack of support from the minority Conservative government.  The Conservatives, and in particular Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, then asked the Senate (which the Conservatives have suggested should be abolished) to oppose the bill.  The Finance Minister then indicated that there would be a provision in the budget legislation to kill the bill.  Finally, the Conservatives have indicated that they are so strongly opposed to this bill that they would make it a confidence matter, thus forcing the Liberals to either allow the bill to be killed or call an election.

Affording Stay At Home Parents

A recent study from London University’s Institute of Education has discovered that most parents want more time with their kids. All sarcasm related to the question of who funds these research studies aside, the findings were that many families have both parents working in order to meet their financial demands (especially their mortgage), but that most would prefer to leave one parent at home with the children instead of with a caregiver. In another piece (also from the U.K.), an author wonders who would want to be a stay at home parent when the role is so undervalued by society.