“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”
C.S. Lewis

The story behind the CGRA

The Canadian Grandparents Rights Association, or CGRA, came into being, as most changes do, to address a need or necessity for change. In the early 1980s, Nancy Wooldridge, who founded the CGRA, won a court battle that strengthened her position (as the biological grandmother) to give her continued access to her granddaughter.

The public response
showed the need for leadership

The resulting overwhelming number of phone calls and mail from American and Canadian grandparents in distress, after this was publicized, spurred Nancy to start the Canadian Grandparents Rights Association. Of course, each family situation varied in particulars, but the common factor was that grandparents were unable to see or have access to their grandchildren.

The CGRA was established in 1986 and incorporated as a BC Society and a Canada Corporation in 1992. The purpose of the association is to promote, support and assist grandparents and their families in maintaining or re-establishing family ties and family stability, where the family has been disrupted, especially those ties between grandchildren and grandparents.

In the early years, regular support groups, all volunteers, were formed in Canada and throughout BC. Meetings were held as often as needed. Many in attendance simply wanted to talk and be listened to, which is generally the situation in support groups. Many had already tried our justice system and found existing family laws lacking. They did not legislate grandparent support. Many legal staff working within the system seemed to regard grandparents as an irritant, rather than a natural and necessary source of support for their grandchildren when divorce or separation occurred within a family.

Influence child arrangements

Over the years, the CGRA made numerous attempts to influence both provincial and federal legislation, with some success. The aim is to ensure family relationships are maintained, in spite of divorce or separation, and the love, security, care and experience shared between grandchild and grandparent are protected. The divorce rate in Canada is high. Most couples sensibly sit down and make workable arrangements for their children’s futures. It is likely these children can maintain a close relationship with both parents and grandparents.

Importance of family connections

In some circumstances, such as divorce, separation, or a death in the family, many of our children and our elders are denied the right to visit or have access. Where there are children concerned, we must be ever vigilant. To sever a family connection, especially a warm, loving one between grandchild and grandparent is defined as a form of emotional child abuse that can have lifelong consequences for the children—and for the adults denied relationships with children and grandchildren.

Such denial of family interactions and friendship divides family members, removes the feasibility of ongoing family relationships, and may start the children on the path to experiencing parental alienation. For the grandparents who lose contact, it has been defined as elder emotional abuse.