Elizabeth French

Following the dismissal of the applicant's motion for parenting time during a period when his step-children were required to quarantine for Covid-19 after arriving from the United States, the court determined the issue of costs.

The respondent sought full indemnity costs, while the applicant sought partial indemnity or no costs.

The court found no bad faith by either party but held the respondent's position was reasonable to protect the children's health.

Applying the principles from Mattina, the court awarded the successful respondent partial indemnity costs fixed at $2,500.

In a shared custody arrangement, the parents could not agree on which elementary school their young child should attend.

The court was asked to determine this specific incident of custody under the Children's Law Reform Act based on the child's best interests.

The court assessed factors including stability, proximity to the parents' homes, family supports, daycare connections, transportation considerations, school programming, and the availability of French Immersion.

Although both schools could meet the child’s needs, the court found stronger evidence regarding the programming and opportunities at the school proposed by the father, including the availability of early French Immersion.

The balance of the evidence favoured that option.

In a child protection proceeding, the mother brought a motion seeking an order dispensing with service of a society wardship application on the child’s father, citing serious safety concerns and the father’s history of sexual offences and absence from the child’s life.

The court considered the statutory framework under the Child and Family Services Act governing notice to parents in wardship proceedings.

The court held that the legislation strictly limits the circumstances in which service on a parent may be dispensed with and generally requires notice before a wardship order exceeding thirty days can be made.

While sympathetic to the mother’s concerns, the court concluded it lacked authority to fully dispense with service.

Service was temporarily dispensed with for thirty days under s. 39(7) of the Act pending further review after the Office of the Children’s Lawyer considered the matter.