2 total
Father's pleadings struck and counsel removed from record due to his complete failure to participate.
The respondent mother brought a motion to strike the applicant father's pleadings in a motion to change child support due to his failure to participate and comply with disclosure orders.
The father's counsel also brought a motion to be removed from the record due to a loss of contact with their client.
The court granted counsel's motion to be removed, noting the lack of contact since July 2024.
The court also granted the mother's motion to strike the father's Response to Motion to Change, finding that his non-participation and failure to provide updated income information squandered court resources and prejudiced the mother.
The mother was granted leave to schedule an uncontested hearing.
Stable placement preserved; grandmother granted structured contact.
Following a trial over parenting arrangements for an Indigenous child whose mother had died, the court determined primary residence, shared decision-making, and grandparent contact under the Children’s Law Reform Act and the federal Indigenous child welfare legislation.
The court held that stability, the child’s existing bond with the de facto primary caregiver, and the father’s support for that placement favoured maintaining the status quo in the caregiver’s home.
The court found that joint decision-making with the maternal grandmother was unworkable given severe conflict, but also found a real risk that the child’s relationship with her maternal family would be imperilled without judicial intervention.
Applying the grandparent access jurisprudence, the court ordered a structured schedule of weekly, overnight, holiday, and summer contact for the grandmother while preserving the child’s cultural continuity and family connections.
