Family violence is a serious and ongoing problem in Canada. The law is increasingly responding to this issue in various ways. For example, the Senate is now considering Bill C332 which would make coercive control a crime.

Coercive control is the subtle, oppressive, and ongoing behaviours that underpin domestic violence. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Canada recently heard a case that considers whether domestic violence should be a separate actionable wrong under tort law.

The British Columbia Law Institute is joining this important conversation. As British Columbia’s independent law reform agency, we undertake law reform projects in the public interest, and our work regularly includes projects related to family law. We have recently released a study paper on a long-standing, but poorly understood, aspect of family violence — economic abuse.

More specifically, our report considers the role of family businesses as vehicles for economic abuse in family breakdown.

Family businesses are an important part of the economy, making up 33percent of all businesses in Canada. Where there is family violence, the family business can become a weapon of coercive control. Our study explores this issue by analyzing case law and understanding the perspective of people who have first-hand experience with this type of violence.

We have found that while tools exist, the law is failing to adequately identify and respond to situations of economic abuse.

At its heart, economic abuse is about limiting a person’s resources so they cannot escape or combat violence they are experiencing. It is about control and power. When a couple separates, often the objective of the person using violence is to destroy the business the family created. There are two reasons for this. First, because a devalued business or no business means there will be fewer assets for division on separation. Second, because diminished assets and income will decrease the income amounts that are used in calculating child or spousal support. 

How a business is destroyed can take many forms. This may look like transferring assets to friends or individually owned companies. It may look like purposefully refusing work or working under the table. It may look like making operational decisions that damage the business. These mechanisms all result in reducing, transferring, or destroying the value of the family business, so the victim is deprived of resources.

As family law evolves to better deal with the complex web of issues involved in family breakdown, it is important that the justice system be equipped to respond to issues related to the role of family businesses. Our study has identified several barriers to the justice system in addressing this economic abuse. These barriers are both legal and practical.

For example, lawyers and judges are not required to have training on family violence to engage on family law cases. This means an issue may not be correctly identified as family violence in the court system, resulting in flawed approaches to property division and implications for the best interests of children.

On the practical side, litigation is expensive and a person experiencing economic abuse may be unable to access justice due to limited resources. This is especially problematic where businesses are involved because remedies are spread across multiple legal areas including business law, tort law, and employment law as well as family law.

The British Columbia Law Institute is committed to identifying and exploring issues in our society that merit law reform. This study paper is an important contribution to the evolution of family law to better protect victims of violence and ultimately better support family well-being. Submitted by Alison Wilkinson