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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J u l y 2 0 1 4 45 comes into play, as with the flight of some Lev Tahor fami- lies to Guatemala, enforcement becomes even more difficult. While two international treaties exist to deal with these issues, the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction and the 1996 Hague Convention on Parental Responsibility and Protection of Children, Canada has never signed the latter and doesn't recognize Guatemala's accession to the former. "All our child welfare authorities have no legal basis now for taking steps to protect those children," says Bala. The Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development said in a statement Canada has not yet decided on whether to accept Guatemala's 2002 accession to the convention or whether or not to sign the 1996 Hague Convention on Child Protection, but wouldn't go into specifics. Instead, Quebec authorities tried to use the immigration system to get the community to return the children to Quebec. After Lev Tahor left Ste-Agathe-des- Monts, a Quebec court issued warrants for committal for all 129 children, not just the 14 children who were the subject of the missed court date. That meant the children, almost all of whom are Canadian citizens, could not receive their passports, even after jurisdiction of the case was taken over by Ontario. Their parents are either Israeli or American citizens who had been staying in Canada on religious worker permits. Some of those permits are set to expire, but the Quebec government shows no signs of budging. "If an extension of their status is refused and if they don't leave, they're subject to arrest and deportation," says Mamann. "So they do want to leave, but they can't leave their children behind. And with that warrant for committal stand- ing out there, they can't get a Canadian passport." Now the community and child pro- tection authorities are stuck in limbo. While Ontario is investigating the claims of child abuse and neglect for those com- munity members in Chatham, they have no legal recourse against the families that have fled to Guatemala, some of whom had the most serious allegations leveled against them. Meanwhile, even Lev Tahor members who are not under investigation cannot get passports for their children, and so are chained to Canada, a country they're increasingly disillusioned with — that is, until their permits expire, at which time they could be deported. Bala thinks the only way to avoid these types of situations is for Canada and the international community to increase their institutional and legal competencies. "Our child welfare agencies need to be able to deal with these situations as does our legal system and our immigration system." TOOLS CLOUD NOW AVAILABLE. ENJOY the freedom and flexibility of running child and spousal support calculations from anywhere, anytime, on your smartphone, tablet, Mac or PC. S O F T W A R E To learn more and to check out our new look, visit: www.divorcemate.com Contact us today! 1.800.653.0925 x407 sales@divorcemate.com Essential Tools for Family Law Professionals in Canada. ntitled-1 1 14-06-17 7:44 AM hildview_CL_Mar_14.indd 1 14-02-07 10:42 AM