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Opinion | The COVID-19 pandemic requires urgent action by co-parents parented during this pandemic. The Superior Court in Central East jurisdiction, like many other jurisdictions, has very limited resources available currently to resolve parenting conflict. While there is limited opportunity to submit motions to the Court, they must be urgent. The Court will also be tremendously strained if facing an influx of motions by co-parents who cannot agree on taking reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of their children and for the benefit of everyone else. More information about the suspension of the Family Court is here: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/covid-19-suspension-fam/. The local police agencies are already strained and operating at reduced capacity. Involving the police in a co-parenting dispute is a very last resort and must only be undertaken if absolutely necessary. The police should be contacted if the safety or well-being of any child is at risk, but co-parents must act responsibly, reasonably and in accordance with the directions, recommendations and advice by government and healthcare officials, which outline monitoring steps, preventative measures and available resources if COVID-19 exposure is a concern or potentially detected. If you have a conflict, you could also try to contact and seek the assistance of a family law lawyer, which may also be challenging currently and may not achieve an expedient resolution in times when urgency is a necessity. Jason Ward is a lawyer and owner of Wards PC in Lindsay. He can be reached at jason@wardlegal.ca. This article originally appeared at wardlegal.ca. Opinion | The COVID-19 pandemic requires urgent action by co-parents https://www.mykawartha.com/opinion-story/9913046-the-covid-19-pan... 3 of 3 4/23/2020, 5:05 PM