Lindsay Edwards

The Children's Aid Society sought a finding that the child was in need of protection and an order for sole custody to the mother with supervised access to the father.

The court found the child in need of protection under section 74(2)(b)(i) and (ii) of the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act due to risks of physical harm arising from the paternal grandparents' long-term opioid addiction and recent cocaine use, the paternal uncle's drug issues, and the father's lack of insight into these risks and his own anger management difficulties.

The court granted sole custody to the mother and ordered weekly supervised access for the father at a third-party facility, emphasizing that unsupervised access would only be considered if the father addressed his living situation and anger management issues.

The initial finding that the child was also in need of protection under section 74(2)(h) was later corrected and removed.

In a child protection proceeding, the mother brought a motion seeking an order dispensing with service of a society wardship application on the child’s father, citing serious safety concerns and the father’s history of sexual offences and absence from the child’s life.

The court considered the statutory framework under the Child and Family Services Act governing notice to parents in wardship proceedings.

The court held that the legislation strictly limits the circumstances in which service on a parent may be dispensed with and generally requires notice before a wardship order exceeding thirty days can be made.

While sympathetic to the mother’s concerns, the court concluded it lacked authority to fully dispense with service.

Service was temporarily dispensed with for thirty days under s. 39(7) of the Act pending further review after the Office of the Children’s Lawyer considered the matter.