Canadian Lawyer

financial considerations that would need to be addressed in the long term," says Saindon, adding that "other provinces, including Alberta, B.C., and Quebec have not adopted the UFC model and yet have successfully delivered the critical combi- nation of access to family justice services and specialized judges to support positive long-term outcomes in family disputes." Laurie Pawlitza, the former treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada who has practised family law for 25 years, supports UFCs but she can understand why the government hasn't devoted more money to them at a time where it is cutting back elsewhere. Some observers, like Bala, also point to the judiciary as a factor in the slow spread of the courts. "[While] the vast majority of judges who have a concern and interest in family law support a uni- fied family model, there are some in the judiciary, some senior judges, who are, I think, reluctant to see a unified fam- ily court because it implies a degree of specialization that they are opposed to. I think there are some who favour a gener- alist jurisdiction of the Superior Court." In Quebec, political will is a stum- bling block, says Nicole Parent, past president of the family law commit- tee of the Canadian Bar Association's Quebec branch. Parent, who has prac- tised family law for 27 years, says a 2005 report explored the idea of a unified family court for Quebec but the idea seems to have "died on the order paper. Parent supports the idea of a UFC for the province, saying it would make it easier for families. Thompson says there have been " ples splitting up must attend a man- datory information session and have access to other front-end resources such as mediation and legal aid advice to help them resolve their dispute, she says. "This has transformed the land- scape. We're still only nine months later. This hasn't even been up and operating for a year and already you have stag- gering success rates of 90 per cent of enthusiastic support for mediation that's offered on-site with followup off-site. Since September 2011, Ontario cou- The mandatory information session in particular has made a big difference, she notes. "This is a free service that begins well before the affidavit wars and the vitriolic litigation that used to be the norm in family. " Smith says she supports their expansion on an "incremental basis, where appro- priate, feasible, and fully resourced. While UFCs have widespread support, observers say there are still As for family court branch sites, " " improvements that can be made in both the courts and in the way family law cases are handled. Bala says he would like to see more case management in UFCs and more family support ser- vices. "There's no doubt would benefit, parents would benefit from having greater access to support services, whether we are talking about legal aid, subsidized mediation, coun- selling — those services to some extent are available but often it's very difficult in practice to get access to them." For Thompson, all family courts, not just the UFCs, need far more funding than they are getting. Despite the hurdles, most observers that children expect to see more unified family courts in coming years. However, they warn it could be a while for UFCs to expand across Canada. Until couples in some parts of Canada risk facing the kind of labyrinthian legal sys- tem that Justice Steinberg first set out to change four decades ago. then, divorcing "flashes of interest" in Alberta and British Columbia but no strong move towards unifying their family courts. Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Heather Smith says the UFC model has led to transformative changes in Ontario's courts. While there are 17 of what are now called Family Court Sites of the Superior Court of Justice, the family support services and approach inspired by the UFC system — such as putting the needs of children first — can now be found in 50 Superior Court sites across the province. www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com A U GUST 2012 53 ntitled-1 1 12-07-12 3:32 PM

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