Aria MacEachern

In a high-net-worth family law proceeding, the applicant brought a motion to find the respondent in civil contempt for failing to comply with multiple financial disclosure orders.

The court found that the respondent engaged in a deliberate and continuous course of conduct to delay disclosure, hide assets through corporate restructuring, and dissipate funds despite a non-dissipation order.

The court concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that the respondent wilfully and flagrantly breached the clear and unambiguous disclosure orders.

The respondent was found in contempt, with a sentencing hearing to be scheduled.

The appellant mother appealed a trial judge's order granting the respondent father sole custody/decision-making responsibility for their child and temporarily suspending the mother's contact, following a finding of parental alienation.

The appellant argued the trial judge misapplied the best interests test, failed to consider less drastic options, did not adequately weigh the child's views, and misapprehended evidence.

The Court of Appeal found no merit in these submissions, affirming the trial judge's findings of parental alienation and the drastic change in custody as being in the child's best interests, supported by the evidence.

The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay appeal costs.

The moving party (mother) sought an extension of time to appeal a final parenting order and a stay of that order pending appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario granted the extension of time, finding the three-day delay was minimal and an appeal right existed.

However, the court refused the stay, emphasizing that it was not in the child's best interests to disrupt the therapeutic program and living arrangements established by the trial judge's order, which aimed to rebuild the child's relationship with the father.