Child Support laws discriminate against fathers

Chipeur Advocates - News: "Child support laws discriminate against fathers, Montreal lawsuit claims
Federal Court in Montreal asked to strike down formula that violates Charter guarantee of equality and does not preserve child support for children
December 24, 2002 - MONTREAL - The federal government's Child Support Guidelines are biased against fathers and violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, claims a major lawsuit filed against the government in Federal Court yesterday.
The lawsuit, A.B. and G.H. v. Her Majesty the Queen, exposes the unfair formula that the Federal Government developed to determine child support payments - a formula that is not based on the true cost of raising children. The lawsuit shows how Canada's Child Support Guidelines mandate a massive transfer of wealth from men to women for no demonstrable purpose. The wealth transfer is not related to child support and could only be described as extra alimony. But the lawsuit asserts that the federal government cannot use the child support rules to pad alimony payments.
The lawsuit also challenges the rules that remove paying parents - usually fathers - from any financial decision-making for the children. By doing so, the Child Support Guidelines interfere with the parent-child relationship.
The statement of claim highlights at least seven significant flaws in the current Divorce Act:
1. It arbitrarily requires men (in 90% of the cases) to make payments to their former spouses, using a formula that is not based on the needs of the children - this violates the Charter;
2. It does not require the child support payments to be accounted for or in fact spent on the children - this deprives children of financial security;
3. It establishes a new tax, a tax on being divorced and a father � and directs the tax revenues to a former spouse, not the children;
4. It v"