“Contempt orders are serious business. No society which believes in a system of even-handed justice can permit its members to ignore, disobey, or defy its laws and its court orders at their whim because in their own particular view it is right to do so. A society which countenances such conduct is a society tottering on the precipice of disorder and injustice: Surgeoner v. Surgeoner (1991), [1992] O.J. No. 299, 6 C.P.C. (3d) 318, 31 A.C.W.S. (3d) 1247 (Ont. Gen. Div.); Ricafort v. Ricafort, [2006] O.J. No. 5332, 2006 ONCJ 520, 79 W.C.B. (2d) 621, 35 R.F.L. (6th) 210, 2006 CarswellOnt 8554171 A.C.W.S. (3d) 592 (Ont. C.J.), para. 16.
The wilful disobedience of a court order is a serious matter that strikes at the heart of our system of justice: Kassay v. Kassay, 2000 CarswellOnt 3262, 11 R.F.L. (5th) 308, [2000] O.J. No. 3373 (Ont. S.C.J.), para 15.
The need for the sanction of contempt proceedings is of significant importance in family law. There is an undertone of bitterness and sense of betrayal which often threatens to drown the process and the parties themselves in a sea of anger and “self-rightness.” In this environment it is all too easy for a parent to believe that she “knows what is right,” even after a matter has been determined by the court, and to decide to ignore, disobey or defy that determination. Those who choose to take this tack must know that it will not be tolerated. It is important for the public and family law litigants, in particular, to appreciate that the orders of their courts must be obeyed: Surgeoner v. Surgeoner, supra.
The point of a contempt order is to bring home to a person shown to be in disobedience of a court order the importance of obeying it: Ricafort v. Ricafort, [2006] O.J. No. 5332, 2006 ONCJ 520, 79 W.C.B. (2d) 621, 35 R.F.L. (6th) 210, 2006 CarswellOnt 8554, 171 A.C.W.S. (3d) 592 (Ont. C.J.), para. 18.”: