2 total
Appeal of Crown wardship order dismissed; mother's mental health decompensations posed risk of emotional harm.
The appellant mother appealed a summary judgment order finding her nine-year-old child in need of protection and granting Crown wardship with access.
The child had been apprehended five times due to the mother's serious mental health decompensations and lack of a viable safety plan.
The Divisional Court upheld the motions judge's finding that the predictable interruptions in care caused a risk of emotional harm to the child.
Finding no reviewable errors of fact or law, the court dismissed the appeal.
Costs of $1,373.47 were awarded against a child protection society for procedural misconduct involving disclosure delays.
The Children and Family Services of York Region (Society) withdrew a protection application.
The parents (respondents in the protection proceedings) sought costs against the Society, alleging failures in investigation, reassessment, and fair conduct, particularly regarding disclosure delays and the Society's failure to obtain critical records.
The court found that while the Society's initial decision to apprehend was reasonable given concurrent criminal charges and interviews, there were inexcusable delays in disclosure and non-compliance with court orders.
The court awarded the parents $1,373.47 in costs, comprising $1,000 for disclosure failures and $373.47 for the cost of obtaining the Children's Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) file.
