e-2114 (Children's rights)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• There is no immediate recourse when there is a violation to a child custody or access agreement;
• Police do not have the authority to act unless the child is suspected to be "in danger";
• Victims are referred to lawyers and the only recourse is to file a motion with the court well after the transgression has been committed;
• The tragedy of Riya Rajkumar of February 14, 2019, highlights the glaring deficiencies in the system, namely that despite having past criminal offences, when Roopesh Rajkumar did not return his daughter on time, hours passed before an Amber Alert was sent out, and when Riya was located approximately six hours later, she had already been murdered;
• Changes need to be made to the Criminal Code to allow immediate support for Bill C-78, especially to allow enforcement of court custody or access orders;
• Children and their parents need to be protected; and
• As much as one would like to think that parents will put their own issues aside and do what is right for their child, unfortunately, some people put their own interests first.