Dr. B.M.

The applicant, an eight-year-old with severe pre-existing disabilities, was struck by a vehicle and sustained a traumatic brain injury.

He applied for a determination of catastrophic impairment under s. 3(2)(d)(ii) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, arguing that the accident significantly increased his dependency and need for daily support.

The respondent argued that the accident did not exacerbate his pre-existing impairments.

The Tribunal found the applicant's evidence, including his mother's testimony and the Omega Medical Associates assessment, more compelling.

The Tribunal concluded that the applicant's condition worsened significantly after the accident, increasing his dependencies, and deemed him catastrophically impaired.

The applicants, foster parents of a child, applied to the Child and Family Services Review Board to review the Children's Aid Society's decision refusing their application to adopt the child.

The Society had refused the application because it planned to place the child for adoption together with a biological sibling, whom the applicants could not adopt.

The Board considered the best interests of the child under the Child and Family Services Act, weighing the importance of sibling relationships against the child's emotional vulnerability and secure attachment to the applicants.

The Board found that the trauma of separating the child from the foster parents and a fictive sibling would be unacceptable.

The Board rescinded the Society's decision, allowing the applicants to adopt the child.