Mr. Brohman

The Children's Aid Society brought a motion seeking interim care and custody of a newborn child, K.B., and discretionary supervised access for the parents.

The Mother, E.B., conceded the child was in need of protection but sought the child's return under a supervision order, or frequent access if placed in Society care.

The court found the child should remain in the interim care of the Society, citing concerns about the Mother's past care of another child and recent improvements being too new.

The court also ordered more diligent in-person access for the Mother, criticizing the Society's blanket no-in-person access policy during COVID-19 without medical evidence.

A foster parent sought expanded rights of participation in a child protection proceeding at the access stage following a crown ward order.

The foster parent requested disclosure of the Society file (excluding the Kin Assessment), the ability to attend trial, cross-examine witnesses, present evidence and make submissions, and the ability to participate in arguments regarding admissibility of evidence.

The maternal grandmother opposed the motion, arguing that expanded participation was akin to party status and would be procedurally unfair.

The court granted the motion, finding that at the post-finding stage, a less restrictive approach should apply to foster parent participation, particularly where the foster parent is the identified permanency plan and has a legal interest in the outcome.