Michael Conroy

The applicant mother brought a motion to change the child's primary residence to her home in Barrie and enroll him in a local school.

The respondent father opposed, seeking to maintain the status quo of week-about parenting with the child attending school virtually in Pembroke due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court found that the mother failed to prove a move to Barrie was in the child's best interests, noting the child's established connections in Pembroke.

Applying recent jurisprudence, the court held there is a presumption that in-person schooling is in a child's best interest absent compelling evidence to the contrary, which the father failed to provide.

The court ordered the child to reside primarily with the father and attend school in person in Pembroke, with the mother having alternate weekend access.

The parties brought competing motions regarding the selection of an assessor and the scope of a court-ordered views of the child report for their 15-year-old daughter.

The applicant father sought a more expansive hybrid assessment, while the respondent mother had inappropriately contacted her preferred nominee directly.

Given the complications, controversy, and expense generated by the initial order, the court dismissed both motions and amended its previous order to delete the requirement for a court-ordered report, leaving it to the parties to obtain one on a mutually agreeable basis if they choose.