Catherine Beamish

The applicant, an Indigenous child welfare agency, sought judicial review of a Minister's decision amending the designations of child welfare agencies in the Thunder Bay area.

The decision expanded the jurisdiction of another Indigenous agency to provide services to its affiliated families residing in Thunder Bay.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the Minister's decision was a policy decision that met the requirements of procedural fairness and was reasonable under the Vavilov framework.

A case management teleconference was held regarding two related applications involving Indigenous child and family services.

Counsel for the moving party did not attend due to an administrative error by court staff.

The court noted ongoing discussions to convert one of the applications into an action and directed the parties to resolve the issue or bring a motion.

The court also addressed scheduling, noting that a return date before the end of 2020 would require proof of readiness and urgency, and encouraged the parties to agree on a schedule.

Following the dismissal of the applicants' motions for a stay of a Ministerial Directive, the court determined the costs of the motions.

The intervenor's request for costs was denied, as the opposition to the stay was already mounted by the respondents.

The respondent Tikinagan sought partial indemnity costs of approximately $108,000.

The court found this amount excessive, noting the public interest nature of the case, the overlap of work with the main applications, and the principle of proportionality.

Costs were fixed at $50,000 payable to Tikinagan, with each applicant responsible for $25,000.

The applicants, two Indigenous representative groups, brought motions for a stay of a Minister's Directive and Designations that authorized three children's aid societies to provide child and family services in Thunder Bay.

The applicants argued the Directive interfered with their inherent right to self-government and was issued without proper consultation or statutory compliance.

The court applied the RJR-MacDonald test and found that while there was a serious issue to be tried, the applicants failed to establish irreparable harm or that the balance of convenience favoured a stay.

The motions for a stay were dismissed.

The applicants, Dilico Anishinabek Family Care and Fort William First Nation, brought a motion for a stay of a Minister's Directive and Designation pending their applications for judicial review.

The Directive designated Tikinagan Child and Family Services to provide child and family services to certain Indigenous children in Thunder Bay.

The court applied the three-part test for a stay.

While finding a serious issue to be tried, the court concluded the applicants failed to establish irreparable harm or that the balance of convenience favoured granting the stay.

The motion was dismissed, with written reasons to follow.

The court sentenced an Aboriginal offender who pleaded guilty to three historic indecent assaults committed against three young female relatives while he was an adult in a position of trust.

Applying the Gladue framework and weighing severe systemic and background factors, including residential school abuse, alongside denunciation and deterrence for child sexual abuse, the court found that a penitentiary sentence was not fit in the circumstances.

A global conditional sentence of two years less one day to be served in the community was imposed with strict house arrest, treatment, abstinence, no-contact, and community service conditions.

The court declined discretionary weapons and child-contact prohibition orders, but issued mandatory DNA and sex offender registry orders.