The paternal grandmother of a four-year-old child in child protection proceedings brought a motion seeking state-funded counsel pursuant to sections 7 and 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The child had been apprehended at birth following the death of an older sibling, and the Society sought to place the child in extended care with adoptive foster parents.
The grandmother sought to present an alternative plan for the child's placement with her.
The Court found that while the grandmother did not have standing to claim a remedy based on a breach of the child's own Charter right, the child's section 7 right to security of the person was engaged and would be infringed without state-funded counsel for the grandmother.
The Court ordered the Attorney General to provide state-funded counsel to the grandmother to ensure a fair hearing and to allow the Court to properly assess the child's best interests, considering the child's connections to kin and culture.
