Recently, Canadian business and family law attorney Brian Ludmer was consulted as an authoritative legal source in the National Post. In a feature article titled “Second-class dads: Why are family courts still siding against fathers?”, Ludmer was quoted twice about the concept of equal shared parenting—specifically, about how the tide of public opinion is continuing to change in its favour.
The piece, which was published on June 12, 2025, raises serious questions about how Canadian fathers involved in high-conflict divorce and child custody cases are treated by law-enforcement and the courts. Among others, it chronicles the sad experiences of ‘Mike Smith’ and ‘Al Clarke’—pseudonyms attributed to a divorced father of three and a divorced father of one, respectively, for their own protection—as examples of how fathers face systemic disadvantage in Canada when when seeking equal parenting time or joint custody after a marriage is dissolved.
Brian Ludmer is quoted near the article’s conclusion, just after a paragraph noting that 77% of Canadians polled either strongly or somewhat support legislation prescribing a presumption of equal parenting in child custody cases—up 7% from 2017. Introduced as an authority on the subject given his roles as a lawyer specializing in divorce and a co-drafter Bill C-560—which was a piece of legislation aimed at inserting the concept of equal shared parenting into the Divorce Act—Ludmer spoke on the record, saying, “The public opinion polling for 25 years has been strongly in favour of equal parenting right across the board.” He then went on to speak candidly about the legal system’s current lopsided approach to parenting after divorce, remarking, “We’re doing a disservice to our children by allowing this to continue this way. This is long overdue.”
The National Post article can be read in full here: https://nationalpost.com/feature/fathers-fighting-for-shared-parenting