| Supreme

THE Supreme Court
of Canada, in the case
of Bracklow v.
Bracklow, has made 4
concerted effort at fur-
ther enshrining depen-
dence and victimism.

In a case that pivoted on
Mrs. Bracklow’s status asa
bona fide invalid, precious lit-
de was said about the “dis-
ability at the heart of the
case.

The decision in the matter
of Frank and Sharon
Bracklow seta very low
threshoid for future claimants
secking support from spouses
due to disability. In fact
because the string of disor-
ders, which have become syn-
onymous with Mrs. Bracklow,
are so flaky, it is likely that
anyone feigning illness will
now be able to sap their ex,
in addition to living off the
state.

In its landmark Supreme
Court decision, the court
tuled that Mrs. Bracklow is
entitled to support from her
husband Frank Bracklow,
after the breakup of their
seven-vear relationship.

Even though there was no
question of compensating her
for lost Opportunity due to
the marriage, the court ruled
that fairness may demand
“that a healthy party continue
to support a disabled party.”

But fairness to al, parties
demands that the malingerer
be separated from the real
victim, and that people be
prevented from cultivating
borderline disorders so as to
get a free ride. Hence Frank
Bracklow and the court
should have questioned the
authenticity of Mrs.
Bracklow’s diseases.

The couple married in

milbox

comment

1989 atter living together for
four vears. At the onset, Mrs.
Bracklow shouldered more
than her share of the family’s
expenses. But thus didn’r Last.

While Mrs. Bracklow has
accused her ex of wanting our
as soon as she beeame sick,
the fhets show otherwise:
Mrs. Bracklow was constantly
ill throughout the relation
ship. And Frank Bracklow
seemed to have accepted her
assorted iffy disorders.

Most days “she would
come home and just go te
bed,” the Court said, deserib-
ing the life the couple led.
Chronic migraines, and
months of sick leave and psy-
chiatric hospitalizations finally
culminated in the diagnoses
of obsessive compulsive disor:
der and fibromyalgia among
others. After the couple's sep-
aration in 1992, Mr.
Bracklow honoured an inter-
im support order, which
ended in 1996,

There isa provision in the
Divorce Act that might have
been used by the court to
address the issue of Mrs.
Bracklow’s dependence, ‘That
provision is the act's objective
of promoting economic self:
sufficiency. But it is far from
clear how granting Mrs.
Bracklow the right to contin-
ue to enjoy the spoils of her
ex's hard labour, promotes
her self-sufficiency in the
long run. [fanvthing, the
court's decision has promised

to reinforce aevele of depen
dence,

Vhe circular argument
advanced by Mrs. Bracklow*s
attorneys captures this claw
ing dependence nicely.
Beeause she has a need tor
support, the argument goes,
Frank Bracklow should con-
ninue to meet chat need.

For how long should he
do so?

“As fong as her need per-
sists.” Verv cozy. By ostensi
Diy capitulating, to this logic,
the court demonstrated a tait-
ure to grasp the psychology
of dependence: ‘Phe mere the
need is met, the more it will
persist: the more Frank sup-
ports Sharon Bracklow, the
longer she will need his sup-
port,

The decision to grant sup-
port is also supposed to con-
sider whether an effort to
tend for oneself has been
made. Here again the court
could have nudged Mrs.
Bracklow towards a measure
of self-sufficiency.

tt didn’t.

The decision is devoid of
any demand on this skilled
woman to ever use her abili-
ties. The court simply aceept-
ed that Mrs. Bracklow will
never work again and that’s
that.

Yo a large degree, the case
hinged on fit: the kind of fit
between the ideology of the
Supreme Court and the two
respective cases.

Untortunately for Mr.
Bracklow, his counsel seemed
to have pushed all the court's
anti-male buttons.

“In an age of multiple
marriages,” Mr. Bracklow
asked to be permitted to
move on and achieve closure.

One has to question the
wisdom of presenting Mr.
Bracklow to a feminist court,

improvement needed in Canada

Dear Editor:

I would fike to thank the
manager(s) of North Shore
News for hiring Ilana Mercer
as the new columnist. So far
all her writing is fundamental,
logical and highly objective
— at least in my opinion. |
would like to add a few words
to her column, “Rich and tal-
ented tempted by U.S. taxes,
(North Shore News, March

19).

For some reasons many
Canadians have a misleading
impression that they are often
in much better shape than

their southern neighbours,
namely in medical care.

However, before making a
statement about something
being inferior or superior the
collection of solid facts is nec-
essary to stipport cither one.
The often quoted United
Nations rating that Canada is
the best country in the worid
doesn’t mean that there js no
room) for improvement in
many aspects of life in’ this
country,

Sometimes 1 can’t ignore
temptation to think that it
might be some Jatent envy

WV’s Blue Bus system

Dear Editor:
Historically the Bluc Bus
system predates the North
couver system —— back to
when North Vancouver had
street cars with limited scope.
The West Vancouver Blue
Bus system was assured of

continuity by the Minister of

the Crown in 1985 when
SkyTrain was being built. |
was Chairman of B.C. Transit
at that time and extracted the

* Bus system

promise and assurance from
the provincial government
then.

The West Vancouver Blue
has a different
union, the ATU;
the B.C, Transit: system has
the ICT union.

There are some erroncous
ideas that melding the ovo
systems on dhe North Shore
would give instant direct rout-
ing from West Vancouver to

the rest of

that leads us to some distort-
ed information and state-
ments about life in the U.S.A.
For example, a comparison
between the taxation systems
of Canada and the U.S. is
nothing but a joke which is
very much apparent chis time
time of year (as weil as in the
past) when we fill in our
income tax forms, (complicat-
ed, often not very logical,
artificial, fogged, ete.) and
read the bottom line after-
wards.
Viadimir Cicha
North Vancouver

is a winner

the Lions Gate Hospital. Such
a melding would be no differ-
ent from the present systems

with the present freedom of

t Vancouver Blue
Rus staff and drivers are the
best in existence, Their skill,
their courtesy, their care and
their unity are to be admired
and supported strongly.
Derrick Humphreys
West Vancouver

Fast ferry’s an Edsel noi a Ferrari

Dear Editor:

Would you really want to
go in a boat that requizes
nightly inspections and weld-
ing to repair cracks in the hull,
and that could be knocked out
of service by debris sucked into
the water jets? I'm amazed that

JIMA consultants could have
proclaimed the fast ferry to be
a “fine ship” when, in addition
to these operating limitations,
their report criticizes the instal-
lation of stainless steel pipes to
carry sea water and expects
(other) minor performance

problems arising from the fact
that the first vessel is 50 tons
overweight.

This is not a Ferrari, as pro-
claimed by the consultants, An
Edsel perhaps!

George C. Roberts
West Vancouver

as aman ready to leave a

“helpless? woman, and seck
happiness clewhere. No sur
prise then that the court
ruled, that based on the
length of the relationship, the
hardship suffered on its
breakdown, her “palpable”
need, and Mr. Bracklow’s
ability to pay -— Mrs.
Bracklow should have the
right to support,

As labels of disease pet
slapped on an ever-wider
rouge of behaviour, it
becomes increasingly urgent
to challenge the various vie-
tim categories.

Yhe truth is that it is so
rewarding to he a victim that
many capable people would
sooner cultivate disabilities
than strengths. ft used to be
that before we ushered in this
no-fault therapeutic society
people who showed no char-
acter yet claimed entidement
were shunned.

Society had its own self
correcting mechanisms. But
now, it is quite respectable
and rewarding to nurse odi-
ous behaviours disguised as
disorders.

According to addiction
specialist Stanton Peele, hav
ing a disease or being dis-
abled is so appealing that
people stretch the criteria
in order to include them-
selves, or perhaps even
expand their behaviour to
meet the criteria of the disor:
der.

Diseases come in fads,
writes Peele in Disensing of
America. During the 1980s
PMS was the disorder of

ay Aprii 2, 1999 — North Shore News - 7

ourt cultivates victi

choice. In was tollowed by
post virtua depression.
which was usurped by obses
sive compulsive disorder
(OCD) now in vogue.

As tor tibrommvalgia, it is a
diagnosis made by detault.
The person has muscle and
joint pain Qwho doesn't), but
their blood tests and muscle
biepsies are normal. [Hf the
doctors can rule out every:
thing else, they let the patient
have fibromyalgia.

The courts and the many

pseudo specialists that bolster
their decisions have had their
save Noone is cher saing to
blaine the “sist.” much
less hold her accountable tor
the wav she chooses to lee
her lite. That means the tay
paver and the Frank
Bracklows out there will con
tinue to support poteanally
capable people like Sharon
Bracklow. It also means tur
ther erosion of the value of
character,

— quomedatticainda net

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