By Scott Roblin

Rally held to protest provincial child custody laws on Saturday

Jun 11, 2018 | 4:31 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Parents unhappy with the current family law system in Alberta gathered in downtown Medicine Hat for a protest over the weekend.

Close to a dozen people met outside of Court of Queen’s Bench on Saturday morning to protest child custody law, saying that women are given an unfair advantage in the courts.

Organizer Matias Battauz drove from Red Deer to take part in Saturday’s protest and said the system is severely flawed.

“Things sometimes don’t work out and it’s normal, it’s understandable,” said Battauz. “But, no parent should have more rights over the other parent unless they’re proven unfit.”

Those protesting are wanting to see mandatory, 50-50 shared custody for divorced parents across Alberta, except for those who are determined unfit to parent.

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Battauz added they’re also pushing for the court system to put more of a focus on family law and not let matters drag out for months or years.

“We’d definitely like to see the system put a little more effort and time when it comes to family matters,” said Battauz. “This stuff is our future, our legacy. So, it’s should be more important than different matters that are going to court.”

Most of the protesters held signs while traffic passed by with phrases such as ‘support equal parenting’ and ‘the best parent is both parents.’

According to Battauz, he’s hoping to see more of these protests popping up in Alberta and beyond.

“People are contacting me from Ontario, people are contacting me from Saskatchewan, from Edmonton, they want to do rallies,” he said. “So, hopefully they do come through.”

Battauz and a few other protesters will be attending a similar rally in Edmonton on Saturday.