The Children's Aid Society brought a motion for temporary care and custody of a 7-year-old Indigenous child.
The child had been removed to a place of safety due to concerns regarding the mother's home environment, exposure to conflict and drug use, and significant educational neglect.
The court held that the federal Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families takes paramountcy over the provincial CYFSA, and applied the best interests test under section 10 of the federal Act.
Despite the presumption of placement with a parent, the court found that returning the child to the mother's care was not in the child's best interests due to the ongoing risk of harm.
The child was placed in the temporary care and custody of the Society with generous access ordered for the mother and sibling.
