Gary Joseph

The appellant mother appealed an enforcement order that granted the respondent father final decision-making authority over their son's medical care and imposed fines on the mother for missed parenting time.

The Divisional Court found that while the motion judge had jurisdiction to make a substantive remedial order under rule 1(8) of the Family Law Rules to address the child's crisis, it was an error to make the order final rather than temporary pending a motion to change.

The appeal was allowed in part, varying the order to be temporary and capping the accrued fines at $1,000.

The appellant appealed the dismissal of her application to set aside a separation agreement on the basis of duress under s. 56(4) of the Family Law Act.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the main appeal, finding no palpable and overriding error in the application judge's conclusion that the appellant's vulnerabilities were compensated by independent legal advice.

On the respondent's cross-appeal regarding costs, the Court found the application judge erred in principle by using a 'cost equalization' methodology rather than applying the proper purposes of a costs award.

The cross-appeal was allowed, and the respondent was awarded $80,000 in costs for the proceeding below, plus $12,500 for the appeal.