In the wake of a Brampton single mother’s constitutional challenge of Ontario’s child support law, the NDP has introduced a private member’s bill to fix the problem.

“Currently, parents of adult children with disabilities are only able to obtain child support orders if they had been married (or if their children are enrolled in post-secondary education,)” said London-West MPP Peggy Sattler, the NDP’s critic for women’s issues.

“This bill allows all parents to apply for support, regardless of marital status and addresses the current discrimination against unmarried parents in the current Family Law Act,” she told the legislature Wednesday.

Under the federal Divorce Act, adult children with disabilities are eligible for child support, while Ontario’s law, which governs parents who have never been married, is silent on the matter, Sattler noted.

Her amendment would bring Ontario’s legislation in line with the federal law by giving unmarried parents the right to apply for support for their adult child if he or she has an “illness, disability or other issue that makes them unable to support themselves.”

Brampton single mother Robyn Coates’s claim that the Family Law Act discriminates against her 22-year-old developmentally disabled son was heard by Ontario Court Justice William Sullivan March 24. He has reserved judgment.

Although Sullivan’s ruling will be precedent-setting, it will apply only to the Coates case and cannot compel the province to change the law.

“I think it is fantastic that (Sattler) is bringing this forward and I just hope Justice Sullivan’s decision supports what she presented on Wednesday,” Coates said.

Two London-area parents have launched similar Charter challenges that have not yet made it to court and it was the plight of those constituents that prompted Sattler to act, the MPP said.

“This is a widespread issue that will affect hundreds and hundreds of parents across the province,” Sattler said in an interview.

Ontario and Alberta are the only provinces that continue to exclude adult disabled children of unmarried parents in their child support laws, she said.

The legislature — and not the courts — is the proper forum to address the issue, Sattler added, echoing concerns raised in the Coates case.

“The government has indicated they were watching (Coates’s) Charter case unfold,” Sattler said. “I have now given them an easy way to address this issue right now and make this fix.”

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said the ministry is “actively” consulting with family lawyers and disability advocates on reforms to Ontario’s family laws, including the area of financial supports.

“We look forward to reviewing and debating MPP Sattler’s bill,” said Clare Graham.