Should Canada do more to enforce custody rulings?

Two fathers who claim their children were abducted by their former spouses and taken to Europe have re-ignited debate about Canada's custody system.

Calum Hughes and Gary Mezo say authorities have done little to try to enforce court orders and bring their children back to Canada.

After divorcing their wives, both were granted sole custody of their children by Canadian courts. Those orders have proven meaningless, the men told CBC News.

"A Canadian Supreme Court full custody ruling has no teeth," said Hughes. "There's not a lot of consequence that I see for a parent to just pick up and leave."

The latest RCMP figures show there were 237 reports of parental abduction in Canada in 2009. Forty-one per cent of those abducted were under the age of five.

CBC community members have already had a lot to say about the story.

• "It sure would be different if it were the other way around. The male would be hunted into the ground, that's for sure." - Creedence01
  
• "It's unbelievable that our border control people do not get any notice of these kids who are not allowed to leave Canada" - BrianDufoe
  

What do you think? Should Canada do more to enforce custody rulings? Take our survey and let us know in the comments.

(This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)