Legal Question in Family Law in Canada

Re: interim access order

No. It is commonly thought that access is the right of a non-custodial parent to see the child. This is not entirely correct. While both parents have rights, access is more the right of the child to see the parent. While the non-custodial parent might think of it as "his" right, the purpose of access is so that the child can develop and maintain a relationship with the non-custodial parent; access is not for the purpose of taking the child away from the custodial parent. Access is personal to the people involved and can not be delegated. If someone else wants access and is in the class of people normally granted access (such as grandparents) there is a duty of the custodial parent to see that the child has time with them, and if she does not, then they can ask the Court for access. A loving parent will see to it that a child has time, and lots of it, with family from both sides - it is not the fault of the child that the parents are no longer together nor is it usually the fault of the families, and only a poor parent would deprive a child of the child's right to get to know and maintain a relationship with extended family from both sides.