Kevin Chao

The Children's Aid Society brought a motion for specified access between a child and his maternal grandparents.

The child's foster parent brought a cross-motion to be added as a party to the child protection proceeding.

The child had been in the foster parent's care for over two years and expressed a strong desire not to have contact with the maternal grandparents.

The court granted the foster parent's motion to be added as a party, finding that the foster parent had a legal interest, was capable of putting forward a plan of care, and was necessary to determine the issues.

The court dismissed the Society's motion for specified access, ordering instead that any access between the child and the maternal grandparents be subject to the child's wishes, as confirmed by the Office of the Children's Lawyer.

The Children's Aid Society brought a child protection application regarding two Indigenous children with severe asthma, whose health was compromised by the mother's substance abuse and exposure to cigarette smoke.

The Society initially sought a supervision order but later requested to withdraw the application in favour of a customary care agreement placing the children with the maternal grandfather.

The court found the agreement's provision for unsupervised access by the mother did not meet the children's best interests.

The court ordered the children placed with the customary care providers under an interim supervision order, with supervised access for the mother subject to conditions regarding substance use and smoke exposure.

The respondent mother brought a motion to vary a final parenting order on an interim basis, seeking supervised access for the applicant father.

The mother alleged the father continued to denigrate her in front of the children, causing them emotional harm, and failed to exercise access in a stable home environment.

The court found a material change in circumstances due to the father's conduct and lack of appropriate housing.

The court declined to order supervised access but suspended overnight access until the father could prove he had appropriate housing, and imposed strict conditions on his parenting time.