Anais Lussier-Labelle

The court considered a motion by Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County for a temporary care and custody order regarding B.T., a 7-year-old child.

The Society sought to place B.T. with his paternal aunt and uncle, D.D. and J.D., subject to supervision, with access to the parents, A.R. and A.T., at the Society’s discretion.

The parents opposed and sought B.T.’s return to their care.

The court reviewed the background, including prior Society involvement, substance misuse concerns, and the child’s special needs.

Applying the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and relevant case law, the court found credible and trustworthy evidence of risk of harm if B.T. were returned to his parents and concluded that B.T. could not be adequately protected in their care, even with supervision.

The court ordered B.T. to remain in the temporary care of D.D. and J.D., with supervised access to the parents.

The Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County brought a motion for a temporary care and custody order for three First Nation children.

The court found reasonable grounds to believe the children were at risk of harm if returned to the mother without supervision, due to her history of substance abuse, mental health issues, and domestic violence.

Applying the "least disruptive placement" principle under the CYFSA and considering the children's First Nations heritage under the federal Act, the court ordered the children to be placed in the temporary care and custody of their parents, subject to the Society's supervision and specific conditions.

The order also granted unsupervised access to the father of the youngest child.

The applicant children's aid society and the respondent mother each brought motions regarding the temporary care and custody of two children.

The children had been removed from the mother's care due to her erratic and aggressive behavior and placed with their respective fathers.

The court applied the test under section 94 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, finding reasonable grounds to believe the children would be at risk of harm if returned to the mother.

The court ordered that the children remain in the temporary care of their fathers.

The applicant society brought a motion for summary judgment regarding the disposition of a child protection matter involving a First Nations child.

While the parties agreed the child should remain in the custody of maternal kin, the respondent mother opposed the father having joint decision-making and unsupervised parenting time, and opposed a formal contact order for the paternal extended family.

The court granted summary judgment, finding no genuine issue for trial.

The court ordered that the child remain with the maternal kin, granted supervised parenting time to the father, and made a specific contact order for the paternal extended family to ensure the child remains connected to his Algonquin heritage, given the father's inconsistent involvement.

Following the withdrawal of a status review application by the child protection society, the respondent foster parents, maternal grandmother, and First Nation band sought costs against the society.

The court reviewed the principles for awarding costs against a child protection agency, noting that costs are only appropriate if the society acted in a patently unfair or indefensible manner.

The court found that the society's actions in bringing the application to address access issues and a breakdown in the foster placement were reasonable based on the information available at the time.

The requests for costs were dismissed.

Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County brought an emergency motion seeking to place access between the respondent father and the three subject children in the Society's discretion.

The motion arose following a conflict between two of the children regarding an allegation of sexual touching made by one child against the father.

The father's inability to move past the allegation and his characterization of the child as a liar created significant emotional distress for all three children, with two threatening self-harm.

The court granted the motion in part, restricting the father's access to the middle child while maintaining access with the two other children, and ordered the father not to discuss the proceedings with any of his children.