Katherine Mary Long

This protection application concerned three children whose mother was murdered.

The Children's Aid Society sought a finding that the children were in need of protection and final custody to their maternal aunt, with whom they had resided since their mother's death.

The respondent father (MH) of two of the children sought custody of his daughters.

The court found the children in need of protection due to physical harm (dental neglect), risk of physical harm (neglect of immunizations, exposure to domestic violence), risk of emotional harm (domestic violence, housing instability, risk of removal from long-term caregiver), and inadequate provision for care after the mother's death.

The court dismissed the father's bid for custody, finding his plan not viable and his credibility lacking, and granted final custody of all three children to the maternal aunt, emphasizing the children's best interests, continuity of care, and the aunt's demonstrated ability to meet their needs.

The Children's Aid Society of Toronto (CAS) sought leave to withdraw its protection application concerning three children (G., Y., L.) after two years of litigation.

The father (M.H.) opposed the withdrawal, citing ongoing protection concerns related to the maternal aunt's (L.M.) care and alleged parental alienation.

The maternal aunt supported the withdrawal, having initiated a private Children's Law Reform Act (CLRA) application for sole decision-making responsibility.

The court dismissed the CAS's motion to withdraw, finding serious ongoing protection concerns, potential prejudice to the father and children in a private domestic proceeding, and that withdrawal would usurp the court's function to determine if the children are in need of protection.

This is a child protection trial concerning two children: N.B., a 10-year-old girl, and M.M., an 18-month-old girl.

The Children's Aid Society of Toronto sought protection orders for both children based on risk of physical harm due to parental neglect and inability to provide adequate care.

The mother (Y.M.) and M.M.'s father (S.O.) opposed the applications, seeking return of the children to their care.

N.B.'s father (Y.B.) did not participate and was found in default.

The court found both children to be in need of protection.

N.B. was placed in the custody of kin caregivers with supervised access to the parents.

M.M. was placed in extended society care for adoption with limited supervised access to the parents.

The court found the parents lacked the stability, consistency, and reliability necessary to adequately parent the children, and that their poor functioning, dishonesty, housing instability, and lack of insight into protection concerns made return of the children inappropriate.

In a child protection proceeding under Part V of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, the respondent mother sought an adjournment of a summary judgment motion scheduled for April 18, 2019.

The mother's previous counsel had withdrawn on February 27, 2019, leaving her unrepresented.

She retained new counsel on March 27, 2019, but counsel required additional time to prepare, citing incomplete disclosure from the Children's Aid Society and the complexity of the issues involved.

The court granted the adjournment despite opposition from the society and the child's counsel, balancing the mother's right to procedural fairness and adequate legal representation against the child's interest in expeditious resolution.

The court emphasized that while delay is generally unacceptable in child protection proceedings, fairness to both parent and child sometimes necessitates limited delays to ensure proper consideration of the case on its merits.