{"id":1343917,"date":"2022-02-25T21:37:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T02:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1343917"},"modified":"2022-02-25T21:37:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T02:37:46","slug":"ontario-father-pushes-to-take-custody-from-anti-vaccine-mother-judge-rebukes-crass-self-serving-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ontario-father-pushes-to-take-custody-from-anti-vaccine-mother-judge-rebukes-crass-self-serving-argument\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario: Father Pushes to Take Custody from &#039;Anti-Vaccine&#039; Mother \u2014 Judge Rebukes &#039;Crass, Self-Serving&#039; Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fontario-father-pushes-to-take-custody-from-anti-vaccine-mother-judge-rebukes-crass-self-serving-argument%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1343917&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nov24-2021-canada-young-boy-coronavirus-vaccine-gettyimages-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">An Ontario Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) judge rebuked a man for deriding his ex-wife as a \u201cconspiracy theorist\u201d in a family law dispute related to custody of two minor children \u2014\u00a0 a 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son \u2014 centered on disagreement between parents over coronavirus vaccinations for their children.<\/p>\n<p>In his judgment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canlii.org\/en\/on\/onsc\/doc\/2022\/2022onsc1198\/2022onsc1198.html\">issued<\/a> on Tuesday, Justice Alex Pazaratz questioned the father\u2019s line of argumentation. The father wants the two children, who have both \u201crecovered completely\u201d from the coronavirus, to receive vaccinations. The mother opposes this.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Pazaratz challenged the father\u2019s use of the term \u201cmisinformation,\u201d a term regularly used by Big Tech to censor interrogation of left-wing political orthodoxies. He wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>And is \u201cmisinformation\u201d even a real word? Or has it become a crass, self-serving tool to pre-empt scrutiny and discredit your opponent? To de-legitimize questions and strategically avoid giving answers. Blanket denials are almost never acceptable in our adversarial system. Each party always has the onus to prove their case and yet \u201cmisinformation\u201d has crept into the court lexicon. A childish \u2013 but sinister \u2013 way of saying\u00a0<i>\u201cYou\u2019re so wrong, I don\u2019t even have to explain why you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He contrasted the mother\u2019s use of \u201cevidence focused entirely on the medical and scientific issues\u201d with the father\u2019s approach. \u201cThe father focussed extensively on labelling and discrediting the mother as a person, in a dismissive attempt to argue that her views aren\u2019t worthy of consideration,\u201d he determined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">Pazaratz linked the father\u2019s legal strategy with a broader phenomenon of public discourse\u2019s degradation via ad hominem argumentation.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">He warned:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">This odious trend is rapidly corrupting modern social discourse: Ridicule and stigmatize your opponent as a person, rather than dealing with the ideas they want to talk about. \u2026 It seems to be working for politicians. \u2026 But is this really something we want to tolerate in a court system where parental conduct and beliefs are irrelevant except as they impact on a parent\u2019s ability to meet the needs of a child?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The judge questioned reflexive subordination to government directives. He added, \u201cWe\u2019re all weary. We all wish COVID would just go away. But pandemic fatigue is no excuse for short-cuts and lowering our standards. We all have to guard against the unconscious bias of thinking \u2018<em>Why won\u2019t these people just do what the government tells them to do?<\/em>\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mother disputed the father\u2019s castigation of her as an \u201canti-vaxxer,\u201d a term used by government, news media, and leftists to denigrate those opposed to universal coronavirus vaccination mandates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">Pazaratz wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">The mother insists the father is misrepresenting her position. She is not opposed to vaccines.\u00a0 She is offended by the pejorative term \u201canti-vaxxer\u201d. She has always ensured that the three children received all of their regular immunizations. She says she\u2019s open minded to vaccinating both younger children if safety concerns can be better addressed. But she says her extensive research has left her with well-founded concerns that the potential benefit of the current COVID vaccines for L.E.G. and M.D.G. is outweighed by the serious potential risks. She says there are too many unknowns, and she worries that \u201conce children are vaxed, they can\u2019t be unvaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">He noted the mother\u2019s emphasis of her two children\u2019s natural immunity following their recovery from coronavirus. He wrote, \u201cShe refers to medical research which says that since they have already recovered from COVID, the children now have greater protection from future infection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judge rejected the father\u2019s use of affidavits citing the mother\u2019s political postings on Facebook as grounds for judgment in his favor.<\/p>\n<p>The father accused the mother of \u201cperpetuating COVID-related conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy.\u201d He claimed the mother\u2019s \u201canti-vaccination stance is much more severe than that of a regular concerned parent, who is unsure whether or not she wants the children to receive a relatively new vaccine. Rather, [she] is leading the charge, attending anti-vaccine rallies and refusing to follow COVID protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judge replied:<\/p>\n<div class=\"paragWrapper\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"MainParagraph\">Where to begin.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is any of this relevant?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Have we reached the stage where parental rights are going to be decided based on what political party you belong to?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is being seen with [founder and leader of the People\u2019s Party of Canada (PPC)] Maxime Bernier \u2013 or anyone, for that matter \u2013 the kiss of death, as far as your court case is concerned?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can you simply utter the words \u201cconspiracy theorist\u201d and do a mic drop?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">e.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you allege that someone is \u201copenly promoting very dangerous beliefs\u201d, shouldn\u2019t you provide a few details. A bit of proof, maybe?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">f.\u00a0 \u00a0 And if you presume that a parent believes things they shouldn\u2019t believe \u2013 can you go one step further and also presume that the parent must be poisoning their children\u2019s minds with these horrible unspecified ideas? (\u201c<i>Surely, these thoughts and feelings are also being promoted in her household\u2026\u201d)<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">g.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The father criticizes the mother for something she didn\u2019t say. He presumes she doubts the effectiveness of school closures, and then criticizes her for providing no evidence. But on this motion she didn\u2019t raise the issue. And back in 2020\u00a0<i>she<\/i>\u00a0was the one who wanted to keep the children out of school, and\u00a0<i>he<\/i>\u00a0fought (unsuccessfully) for them to attend. As with other allegations, the father provides no evidence of his own, and fails to address the fact that vigorous community debate led to school closures being abandoned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">h.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How far are we willing to take \u201cguilt by association\u201d? If you visit a website, read a book, or attend a meeting \u2014 are you permanently tarnished by something someone else wrote or said? At what point do the \u201cthought police\u201d move in?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">i.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And really, how fine is the line between \u201cvaccine hesitancy\u201d and \u201cnot taking any chances with your kid\u201d? All of the caselaw says judges have to act with the utmost caution and consider all relevant evidence in determining the best interests of the child. How can we then impose a lesser standard on a demonstrably excellent parent?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"Party-UsedinTable\">The judge concluded with a warning about an \u201cuglier problem\u201d displayed by the father\u2019s legal argumentation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paragWrapper\">\n<p class=\"MainParagraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re seeing more and more of this type of intolerance, vilification and dismissive character assassination in family court,\u201d he lamented. \u201cPresumably we\u2019re seeing it inside the courtroom because it\u2019s rampant outside the courtroom. It now appears to be socially acceptable to denounce, punish and banish anyone who doesn\u2019t agree with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Ontario Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) judge rebuked a man for deriding his ex-wife as a \u201cconspiracy theorist\u201d in a family law dispute related to custody of two minor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1343917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1343917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1343917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1343917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1343917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1343917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}