In a child protection application, the applicant sought to introduce out-of-court statements made by the child to child protection workers and a counsellor for the truth of their contents.
The court conducted a voir dire to determine the threshold reliability of these hearsay statements.
Applying the principled exception to the hearsay rule, the court evaluated the circumstances under which the statements were made, including the child's spontaneity, the absence of leading questions, and the timing of the recordings.
The court found that the majority of the statements met the threshold reliability test and were admissible, with the exception of one response to a directive question.
