Mike Barrett photo
Denis Van Decker, a protester, a social justice advocate, helped direct a protest with two costume-clad dads on the roof of NDP Leader Jack Layton’s Toronto headquarters last month.
Aurora
September 09, 2008 11:23 AM
Patrick Mangion, Staff Writer
Denis Van Decker is many things.
He’s a protester, a social justice advocate, an entrepreneur and a ski bum.
But, most importantly, he’s a father.
And when the conversation turns to the 12-year-old daughter, with whom he wishes he could spend more time, his confident tone begins to falter.
His voice cracks as he pulls at his coif of rusty hair, tears well in his sky blue eyes and he apologetically asks to compose himself.
“Sorry. Give me a moment,” he says.
“I think my daughter’s missing a lot.”
A father’s love knows no bounds.
Mr. Van Decker proved that last month when he helped direct a protest with two costume-clad dads on the roof of NDP Leader Jack Layton’s Toronto headquarters.
Toronto’s emergency task force swarmed and charges were laid in what Mr. Van Decker describes as a complete overreaction.
His persistence has regularly been on display in front York Region’s Newmarket courthouse, where he and his superhero-clad colleagues in York’s Father’s 4 Justice chapter, tirelessly promote their message: equal parenting is long overdue.
The organization spread from the United Kingdom to the United States, landing in Canada about four years ago.
Its objective hasn’t changed; raising maximum awareness with minimal public inconvenience.
More than 100 Canadian protests have been staged.
The Incredible Hulk has scaled a construction crane and Batman and Robin have climbed a bridge.
Often dismissed as zany tactics by observers, the men behind the masks are trying to smash the outdated maxim that women make better parents.
But after pitching his own protracted custody battle, his focus has shifted.
He has spent the past four years fighting for more sweeping changes to the family court system.
“If that means dressing silly, I’ll do it,” Mr. Van Decker said.
“You have to stand up and make people pay attention. You can’t keep writing letters to politicians. We’ve been doing that for years. That’s why Fathers 4 Justice is necessary,” he said.
When the conversation turns to solutions, he shuffles to the edge of his chair and his eyes widen.
“(The family justice system) is fundamentally hostile and adversarial. There always has to be a winner,” he said.
Despite polls indicating most Canadians agree with equal parenting, the family law system awards sole custody to woman in 85 per cent of cases.
“Anyone who is involved in the movement for their own situation will be frustrated. We’re in it for the next generation.”
Undeterred by charges or the expected glacial pace for legislative change, Mr. Van Decker will stay the course.
The 46-year-old Sarnia native showed early he wasn’t one to back away from a fight or a challenge.
A gifted student, the son of mother and father entrepreneurs, he breezed through whatever his teachers could throw at him and skipped a few grades along the way.
His confidence developed quickly, earning him a reputation as someone unafraid to take risks or walk to the beat of his drum.
He was a football standout and an avid skier.
He started his own business, organizing ski trips, still shy of his high school graduation.
He went on to work at his local General Motors dealership as a 17-year-old salesperson before his straight A average earned him a spot in the University of Waterloo’s chemical engineering program.
His education got off to a rocky start.
Denied on-campus residence, he signed a lease only to see the building owner yank the carpet out from under him amidst fears of student revelry.
“I lived in a trailer for six months,” he said sheepishly.
But by the time he doffed his graduation cap and gown, he had earned a reputation as an engaged and well-respected member of the engineering fraternity.
A number of self-made business ventures followed, along with a seven-year stint at Nortel.
His time at the Brampton high-tech firm required extensive travel that fed his passion for skiing.
A veteran ski race official and fixture at Devil’s Glen Ski Club, Mr. Van Decker swooshed down some of North America’s most majestic slopes and made the odd exotic trip to places such as Chile and Arizona.
But for now, he’s focused on a different road show.
Fathers 4 Justice has launched a cross-country tour to show its support for a private members bill proposing changes to the Divorce Act that enshrine equal parenting.
The tour will make stops in Newmarket and Aurora tomorrow, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the courthouse and wrapping up at Aurora’s town park by 7 p.m.
Its superheroes’ calling card will be on hand, along with its purple Barney mobile.
The organization will visit cities across Canada in August and September.
The tour will wrap up in Ottawa next month.
For more information, visit f4jcanada.ca or e-mail f4jyork@gmail.com
Denis Van Decker finishes our sentences:
• If I could have dinner with any historical figure, living or dead, it would be ... Bob Geldof.
• The three things I’d take to a desert island are ... my wife, my daughter and my swimming goggles.
• My autobiography would be entitled ... Passion for Justice.
• My favourite film is ... Blade Runner.
• Few people know that I ... landed a double daffy in my 40s.
• My strongest characteristic is ... creativity or persistence.
• I could stand to work on my ... doing too much.
• The thing I’d most like to do before the end of my days is ... have more children.