Jennifer L. Wilson

The applicant mother brought an urgent motion seeking interim custody, parenting orders, and restraining orders against the respondent father.

The dispute arose from the father's rejection of COVID-19 pandemic seriousness and his active disobedience of public health guidelines, including organizing protests.

The court granted the mother temporary sole decision-making authority for the child's health, schooling, and extra-curricular activities, and restricted the father's parenting time to video access, conditional on his adherence to public health protocols.

The court also issued a tailored restraining order prohibiting the father from making social media posts denigrating the mother or referring to the litigation or the child in relation to the pandemic, but dismissed the request for a no-contact order and GoFundMe page removal.

Costs were awarded to the applicant.

The respondent wife brought a motion to stay the applicant husband's divorce application in Ontario, arguing that England was a more appropriate forum for the divorce proceedings, where she had also initiated an application.

The husband sought dismissal of the wife's motion and for his Ontario application to proceed.

The court found that the wife failed to discharge the onus of demonstrating that England was a more appropriate forum, noting that the parties were married in Ontario, had their only common residence and matrimonial home there, and the husband resided and had assets in Ontario.

The court dismissed the wife's motion for a stay, allowed the husband's application to proceed, and provided directions for future service and filing, awarding costs to the husband.