Saturday, October 9, 1999
Mother who denied access to toddler’s father sent to jail
By Richard Henault (translated)Le Soleil
In an unusual ruling a few weeks ago, Quebec Superior Court Justice Jacques Blanchard ordered a woman jailed for six days, for systematically preventing the father of her three-year-old daughter from seeing his child.
Before the mother was found guilty of contempt of court in a family tribunal, the Quebec City woman had refused to obey several temporary orders that granted access rights to the father. Justice Blanchard said the jail sentence was to be served "firmly, continuously, without delay or postponement," notwithstanding an appeal. In fact the mother did file a motion to appeal the sentence within days.
In the meantime, custody of the child was granted to her father. He had to take the three-year-old back to her mother upon her release from prison. In fact the judge said he was convinced the father was capable of looking after the interests and meeting the needs of the needs of the child.
Justice Blanchard said he couldn’t understand the woman’s behaviour. "How can a mother behave like this if she loves her child?" The judge couldn’t understand exactly why the mother so adamantly obstructs the father’s visitation rights. His failed attempts to see his daughter made no sense at all, explained the judge.
He stated that the mother acted in bad faith and considered her behaviour «completely disrespectful of the rights and the best interest (of the father) and the child» When it came time to sentence the mother, the tribunal took note that the mother had no intention to change her behaviour or to respect further rulings from the court.
In her motion to appeal, the mother stated that her husband was a drug addict who doesn’t love his daughter. "I don’t want her to spend a day with him," she wrote.
She filed her brief on her own, without the help of a lawyer. The document is partly incoherent and hard to understand.
She says her daughter suffered during the few days she spent with her father. Upon her return she was apparently «confused because she had to sleep on a couch». According to the mother, the daughter didn’t seem "as happy as before."
"Why should the child have to pay the price by separating her from such a good mother" asks the woman to the Quebec Court of Appeal. She further states that "it’s the liar who should be punished because he didn’t spoil her, she was confused and sad-looking."
«It’s not fair to send a mother to prison, with handcuffs, like a criminal,» she writes, noting that she cried night and day.
She chastises her ex by pointing out that he hasn’t paid child support. And despite the fact that he’s on social assistance, he still found $2000 to fight a criminal charge. And she concludes "this has lasted long enough, one court-order after another, it hasn’t stopped for three years. All I want is to live in peace with my little girl."