Rock told us that the Child Support Guidelines will be promulgated by regulation and therefore will be easy to change. Indeed, throughout his talk, the minister appeared to be open to receiving the input of the bar and others and to change the guidelines should the need arise in the future. There has been criticism that not enough was being done by the government to assist the disadvantaged. The press reports have been filled with attacks upon the Chretien - Rock government for what has been represented to be a shameful tax grab upon the backs of single mothers and children. Rock was clearly sensitive to these criticisms and went to great lengths in his talk to convince the assembled family law practitioners that in fact more money was being put back into the system to assist those poor families who needed it most.
Child support is to be calculated first.
Only after that would spousal support be considered. A subsidy by society is not appropriate. Rock continued to give other philosophical justifications for the elimination of the tax deduction. It was clear to me that whatever adjustments may be made in the future, it is highly unlikely that we will ever see the return of the tax deduction. Returning to the theme espoused at the outset of his talk with respect to eliciting the assistance of the bar, Rock hinted that alternative mechanisms may be necessary to handle the flood of expected variation applications.