Alienated children grieve in silence.
They are pressured to reject, fear, or erase a parent they once loved, not because the relationship is necessarily unsafe, but because their loyalty, words, and feelings are being shaped by the conflict around them. In the most painful cases, a child is denied normal contact, denied the right to speak freely, denied the right to show love, and taught to internalize the anger, fear, or resentment of the alienating adult as if it were their own.
Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9223241

This is not harmless family conflict.
Peer-reviewed research has linked parental alienating behaviours with anxiety, trauma reactions, depression, substance misuse, guilt, confusion, and long-term emotional harm in children and adults who lived through it. Professional literature also describes the rejected parent suffering severe psychological harm, including profound grief and, in some cases, suicidal distress.
Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9026878/

Denying that this happens only makes it more dangerous.
When courts, professionals, or policymakers refuse to recognize deliberate interference with a child’s bond to a loving parent, children can be left trapped in a false loyalty bind, and loving parents can be cut off without cause while the damage deepens in silence. Children need protection from violence and coercion, but they also need protection from manipulative interference that harms attachment, identity, and emotional development.
Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/parental-alienation-and-its-use-in-family-court

Evidence, history, witnesses and facts must always be the priority in family court. Zero-tolerance for delay tactics and false claims that further prolong proceedings is essential at all costs.

Alienated children suffer in silence. They can be pressured to reject, fear, or forget a parent they love, while being pulled into the emotional world of the alienating adult and made to carry feelings and beliefs that are not truly their own. This can sever a child’s bond with a loving parent, distort identity, and leave lasting emotional wounds that may follow them into adulthood.

This is not a theory to be dismissed, and it is not a victimless conflict between adults. Research and professional literature describe serious harms including anxiety, trauma, depression, guilt, confusion, addiction, and suicidal ideation, along with devastating harm to the rejected parent and the child’s right to maintain healthy family relationships. When institutions deny that this occurs, or treat it as something that never happens, they help conceal abuse and make it easier for children to be isolated from loving parents.

Children deserve safety, truth, and the chance to love both parents where it is safe to do so. We must stop minimizing or ignoring this problem, because every day it is denied, more children and more loving parents are harmed in silence.

High-value sources

Canada Justice, Divorce Act section 16 and best-interests factors: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/D-3.4/section-16.htmllaws-lois.justice

Canada Justice explanation of the 2019 Divorce Act changes, including willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/cfl-mdf/dace-clde/div53.htmljustice

Peer-reviewed review on mental health impacts of parental alienating behaviours: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9026878/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

Peer-reviewed medical-legal and psychosocial review: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9223241/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih

AFCC conference material discussing parental alienation, effects on children, and professional responses: https://www.afccnet.org/Portals/0/eNews/2011_May.pdfafccnet

AFCC 2023 material referencing alienation criteria and professional discussion: https://www.afccnet.org/Portals/0/eNews/2023%20November%20eNews.pdfafccnet

House of Commons / Parliament source for Bill C-223 text: https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/441/Private/C-223/C-223_1/C-223_E.xmlparl