Some grandparents are trying to change Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act to ensure they get access to their grandchildren when parents separate or divorce.

A private member’s bill from New Democrat Michael Mantha would ensure the courts give grandparents a chance to make a case for access to children during custody disputes.

Mantha says the bill is focused on grandchildren’s rights because he believes denying them access to their grandparents is detrimental to their well-being.

Sonya Cianciullo of Ottawa says members of the group Alienated Grandparents Anonymous want their grandchildren to know they did everything they possibly could to have a loving relationship with them.

She says they’re fighting for the rights of grandchildren “because they do not have a voice, and their rights are sometimes not respected.”

Wanda Davies of Toronto says using children as pawns in divorces by denying them access to their grandparents amounts to psychological and emotional abuse, and causes “pain beyond description.”