Andrew Kania

Following a motion regarding financial disclosure where success was divided, both parties sought costs.

The applicant mother sought full indemnity costs of approximately $26,000, while the respondent father sought substantial indemnity costs of about $11,500.

The court found no bad faith by the father and determined that success on the motion was fairly evenly divided.

Consequently, the court ordered that each party bear their own costs.

The applicant mother brought a motion to enforce a consent disclosure order against the respondent father.

The court found that while the respondent had produced voluminous records, he failed to comply with five specific items, including his complete 2019 personal tax return and a detailed summary of gross commissions.

The motion was allowed in part, and the respondent was ordered to produce the outstanding items within 30 days.

The children's aid society brought a motion within a status review application to vacate a previous statutory finding that a child in extended society care was not a First Nations child.

The society sought a new finding that the child is a First Nations child based on new evidence of the paternal aunt's self-identification as Indigenous.

The foster parents and maternal grandfather opposed the motion, arguing the previous finding could not be varied.

The court held that a child's identity is fluid and can be revisited on a status review application if new evidence arises and it is in the child's best interests.

The court accepted the paternal aunt's self-identification and declared the child a First Nations child under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act.

The respondent husband brought a motion for the partition and sale of the jointly owned matrimonial home.

The applicant wife opposed the sale, arguing it was in the children's best interests to remain in the home.

The court found no compelling reason or competing Family Law Act interest to defeat the husband's prima facie right to sale under the Partition Act.

The court ordered the home to be listed for sale at the end of the children's school year and adjourned the issues of income and support to a further motion, while ordering the husband to maintain the status quo carrying costs in the interim.