Loss of passport over child support challenged

My comments left on the CBC thread:

There seems to be a great deal of misinformation on this thread. 90% of physical custody goes to moms in Canada 84% in the USA. Deadbeat moms proliferate but are never penalized for non-payment and they are proportionately greater deadbeats than dads. Moms frequently withhold access of children to dads  out of spite despite legal access agreements and are never punished. Between 10 and  30% of children dads pay support for are not their own. Mom had an affair and lied to dad about who the real father was.

This short article gives no insight into the overall situation and many are jumping to conclusions based on stereotypes.  Most dads who cannot or do not pay child support are unable to due to changes in income.  If you were a loving hard working parent and suddenly find you are going to lose your children (75% of Cdn. divorces are initiated by the wife and 90% get sole physical custody ) you would be abnormal if it did not have a large negative impact.

I hope this guy wins and brings some clarity to this massive government intrusion into the lives of Canadians.  The lawyer, Alexander Pless, is a typical media savvy enforcer of draconian laws playing to sympathies, not logic, by saying the child is in poverty. Both parents are obliged under the divorce act and morally to support their children.  He seems to want to leave the impression only dads have that responsibility.

I'd like more facts on the background to the case before passing judgment.MJM

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 | 7:02 PM ET Comments169Recommend97

Montrealer Francisco Caruso is contesting the loss of his passport over $80,000 in unpaid child support. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) A Montreal man is asking the Quebec Superior Court to strike down a federal law that can see parents who don’t pay child support lose their passports and other licences.

Francisco Caruso is arguing that his right to mobility — including the right to leave and enter Canada — is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The case began Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.

Caruso said that after his divorce in 2001, he became depressed and lost his job at his father’s bakery. He has barely been able to make ends meet, he said.

But thanks to money from friends and some investors, he started a business importing exotic woods from Latin America, he said. Over a two-year period, Caruso made nine business trips.

But in 2003, he said, he was informed his passport would be suspended because he was late paying child support to his ex-wife and three children. The payments owing now amount to more than $80,000.

Alexander Pless, the lawyer for the federal government, argued that Caruso is the author of his own misfortune. If he had the money to travel to Latin America, he could also have arranged to provide financial support for his children, Pless said.

The law being challenged protects children, many of whom are among the poorest members of Canadian society, Pless said.


http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/01/06/passport-child-support.html