Cairn journal
Parenting through separation
Parenting through separation — plain-language articles to help you understand this part of the Ontario family law process.
How to build an Ontario parenting plan that holds up
A parenting plan is only as good as its detail. Here is what a plan needs to cover in Ontario — the schedule, decision-making, communication, travel, and the review clauses — and why the vague ones are what send parents back to court.
Norm Barrette · Jul 1, 2026 · 7 min read
The maximum contact principle in Ontario: what it means now
Most separated fathers assume the maximum contact principle guarantees them 50/50 time. It does not. Since 2021 the law has been clear: there is no presumption of equal time. What actually wins is being the cooperative parent — and here is how to show it.
Norm Barrette · Jun 20, 2026 · 7 min read
Parental alienation in Ontario: signs, what courts do, and how to document it
When a child suddenly refuses contact and repeats accusations that aren't their own, you may be facing parental alienation. Ontario courts take it seriously but decide on evidence, not labels — and they separate it from a child pulling away for a real reason. Here are the signs, the remedies a judge can order, and how to document it.
Norm Barrette · Jun 19, 2026 · 4 min read
Father's rights in Ontario: what you're entitled to
Many Ontario fathers assume the system is stacked against them and give up time before anyone looks at the facts. It isn't. Fathers and mothers hold the same legal rights to decision-making and parenting time, decided on the child's best interests. Here's what you're entitled to — and the myths that cost men.
Norm Barrette · Jun 19, 2026 · 3 min read
Can your ex move away with your kids in Ontario?
A father's plain-language guide to relocation in Ontario: what counts as a "relocation" versus an ordinary move, the 60-day written notice and 30-day objection window under the Divorce Act, the best-interests factors and the Supreme Court's Barendregt approach, what to do if you object, and what happens when there is no existing order.
Norm Barrette · Jun 15, 2026 · 9 min read
What to do when your ex won't let you see your kids in Ontario
Cut off from your kids in Ontario? A calm, men-only guide to what counts as withholding parenting time, why decision-making is different, why the Family Responsibility Office does not enforce time, how to document a pattern, and when it becomes a court matter.
Norm Barrette · Jun 14, 2026 · 8 min read
Decision-making and parenting time in Ontario — how it actually works
Ontario stopped using "custody" and "access" in 2021. The new terms — decision-making responsibility and parenting time — are not just rebrands. They change how courts frame the conversation and what they look at. Here is the plain-English version of how it actually works, and the one thing to do this week.
Norm Barrette · May 9, 2026 · 9 min read
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