Following a child protection trial resulting in custody being granted to the mother, the applicant society and the mother sought costs against the father and his counsel.
The court reiterated that costs are rarely awarded in child protection proceedings because parents are entitled to require the state to prove its case.
While the father pursued an unrealistic litigation strategy, the court declined to order costs against him.
However, the father’s counsel was found to have wasted costs by bringing a frivolous Charter application that was later withdrawn as irrelevant to the disposition phase of the proceeding.
Applying the test for personal costs against counsel, the court concluded the motion was patently unmeritorious and ordered counsel personally to pay modest costs to the society and the mother.
